Kuemper's return is excellent news for the Avalanche as the netminder suffered a freak accident during the First Round in the final minute of the first period of Game 3 against Nashville where the stick of Predators forward Ryan Johansen struck him through his mask. Fortunately, the array stick didn't cause any damage to Kuemper's right eye itself, but he did sustain swelling around the entirety of his eyelid.
Tweet from @Avalanche: ���It happened so quickly, but I got pretty lucky it could have been worse���Really looking forward to getting started again here.���#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/zJroa1u4YV
"It was a scary situation," Kuemper said in his first media availability since the injury and following the team's practice on Sunday afternoon. "I didn't really see anything happen. I didn't know what happened until I watched it after. It happened so quickly. It's pretty scary when your eyes are involved, but I'm pretty lucky it wasn't anything worse."
After diverting to the dressing room, Kuemper did not return for the remainder of Game 3 nor did he dress for Game 4 on May 9, where Colorado completed the eventual sweep over Nashville with Pavel Francouz in net.
Through three starts and 147:29 minutes, the 32-year-old left catch allowed only four goals against, made 57 saves on 61 shots and earned a SV% of .934% and a GAA of 1.63.
Now, just about a week since Game 4, Kuemper confirmed that he's feeling ready to go and is eager to get back in game action whatever day that might be as Colorado awaits the date and start time for Game 1 of the Second Round series against the St. Louis Blues.
"For me individually, it's been great to have that extra time to heal up," Kuemper said. "We're biting at the chop to get back playing. Playoffs are the funnest time of year to play. Especially at home here in front of the crowd. The crowd here was so fun [in the First Round], so we're eager to get going."
