Avalanche starting goalie unclear for Game 4 of Stanley Cup Final
Kuemper replaced by Francouz in Game 3 loss after allowing five goals against Lightning
One day after Darcy Kuemper was pulled in the second period of a 6-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 on Monday, coach Jared Bednar did not say whether he or Pavel Francouz would start.
When asked Tuesday if it was safe to say it would be Kuemper with Francouz a good option, Bednar said, "Yeah, that's one possibility."
The Avalanche lead the best-of-7 series 2-1. Game 4 is Wednesday at Amalie Arena in Tampa (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS).
Kuemper allowed five goals on 22 shots before being replaced by Francouz after Pat Maroon gave Tampa Bay a 5-2 lead at 11:15 of the second period.
"He didn't have a good night, you know? Neither did our team," Bednar said of Kuemper on Monday. "We win as a team, lose as a team. Group him in with everybody else. Just wasn't as good as we needed to be."
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Francouz made 10 saves in relief of Kuemper, who is 8-3 with a 2.76 goals-against average, .892 save percentage and one shutout in 13 games (12 starts) in these Stanley Cup Playoffs. Francouz is 6-0 with a 2.81 GAA, .906 save percentage and one shutout in seven games (four starts).
Kuemper started 10 of Colorado's first 11 playoff games. Francouz started and won Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round against the Nashville Predators after Kuemper sustained an eye injury in Game 3. He also won all four games, starting the final three, of the sweep against the Edmonton Oilers in the conference final after Kuemper sustained an upper-body injury in Game 1.
"Yeah, really versatile for me," Bednar said of Francouz. "I mean, all season long, once he got healthy, he played stretches of games, he'd have big breaks in between games, he'd come in in relief and he's continued that in the playoffs. He's been really steady, a calming influence on our team and he's played really well when we put him in the net. I'm really happy with what he's been able to do, especially in the playoffs, because it's ramped up in intensity. He keeps himself ready, he's a real pro that way."
Kuemper's teammates said they're confident he can bounce back.
"I mean, listen, he's allowed to have bad nights too. That's the way it is," captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "I wouldn't hang him out to dry on any of those. I think, you know, defensively, as a five-man unit out there, we need better. We kind of left him alone on a few of those, and we'd like to change that."
Monday marked the Avalanche's first road loss in the playoffs (7-1). They faced 33 shots in Game 3, the most by the Lightning in the series; Tampa Bay had 23 shots in Game 1, a 4-3 Colorado win in overtime, and 16 in Game 2, a 7-0 Avalanche victory.
"I think as a goalie, this is not going to be the last time [Kuemper will] get pulled," Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson said Tuesday. "He's been pulled before. Goalies get pulled all the time. They respond well. Darcy has been pulled in the regular season before. He responded great. It's just like a player. You're going to make a mistake. It won't be the last mistake you ever make. It's a game of mistakes and I think that Darcy, he's responded every time he's been pulled.
"… But regardless of who plays, like you've seen all playoffs, both guys have stepped up in the situations that they've been asked to and whoever is in the net, we're confident in. But I expect Darcy to bounce back like he always has in those situations."
Colorado didn't like the quality of the opportunities it gave up in Game 3.
"Defensively, we've got some things to clean up," Landeskog said. "Our exits weren't as good and we allowed them some quality scoring chances that we haven't done so far in the series. So we have to clean that up, and we'll be just fine."
Whoever the starting goalie is in Game 4, the Avalanche want to play better in front of him when they try to extend their lead in the series.
"I think it was on us, for sure," forward Mikko Rantanen said. "Three Grade A's in the slot, so you can't really ask for a goalie to make every save when you give chances like that. … We know 'Kemps' is a great goalie and he's going to bounce back like everybody else."
NHL.com staff writer Tom Gulitti contributed to this report
