Darcy Kuemper Not Available For Game 2 Versus Oilers

The Colorado Avalanche will have to try and go up 2-0 in their series versus the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night without the services of starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper. He has been ruled out for Game 2, as confirmed by head coach Jared Bednar.

Darcy Kuemper officially ruled out for Game 2.

🥅: Pavel Francouz starts ✅ https://t.co/wTXXMnobqn

— Daily Faceoff – Fantasy (@DFOFantasy) June 2, 2022

Kuemper was not on the ice for the morning skate and will not start Game 2. Pavel Francouz will get the nod and try to go 4-0 in this year’s playoffs.

On Wednesday, Bednar wouldn’t reveal if Kuemper would be available for the team after leaving Game 1 and not returning. It was said that Kumper was dealing with an upper-body injury but that he might be able to come back.

Related: Three Takeaways from Oilers’ 8-6 Loss to the Avalanche

Darcy Kuemper has left the game with an upper body injury and is doubtful to return.

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) June 1, 2022

When asked about Kuemper’s status for Game 2, Bednar would only say, “we’ll see.” He did add that the team has full confidence in Pavel Francouz, should the team need to bring him back and put him in between the pipes. 

As Mike Chambers of the Denver Post relays, Bednar refuses to get into the injury status of his players, including his goaltender. Reports are, however, that this was not something that just sprung up on the netminder. It is being reported that he was dealing with the injury throughout most of the first period and tried to tough it out. He was working through something which resulted in a bit of a delay to start the second period and ultimately, Kuemper pulled himself. “I don’t know how long he’ll be out,” Bednar said on Altitude Sports Radio on Wednesday. “He could be back tomorrow for us.”

Meanwhile, the Oilers know they can score on this tandem of netminders and were in a game Edmonton didn’t play particularly well. “We scored six goals on their goaltending tandem in their building,” said Woodcroft. The issue for the Oilers wasn’t their offense. It was their overall team defense and some less-than-perfect goaltending when the puck was turned over.

As for who the Oilers go with in Game 2, that’s not clear either. Woodcroft is likely to go back to Mike Smith even though Smith was pulled and Mikko Koskinen played well in relief. Smith typically performs much better in Game 2 and the Oilers are hoping to head back to Edmonton with this series tied at one game apiece.

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