TAMPA (Fla.) — The Colorado Avalanche pulled goaltender Darcy Kuemper After the Stanley Cup Final, Game 3 of Stanley Cup Final Tampa Bay Lightning Midway through Tuesday night’s second period, the lead was 5-2
Kuemper scored five goals on 21 shots. Kuemper was replaced by backup Pavel Francouz.
The Avalanche are currently leading the series at 2-0 and coming off a 7-1 victory over the Lightning in Game 2. Kuemper saw just 16 shots during that match, but the Avalanche dominated Tampa Bay. This was the first game in which Colorado had lost to the Lightning.
Francouz won the start for Colorado, but Kuemper was nominated over Francouz. He had been injured in the upper body during Game 1 against the Western Conference Finalists. Edmonton OilersFrancouz, a spokesman for Colorado, was able to help the team win four straight.
Still, Bednar went back to Kuemper for Game 1. Kuemper was Colorado’s incumbent in a strong regular-season (37-12-4;.921SV%, 2.54 GAA). Francouz was an excellent complement (15-5-1),.916SV%, 2.55 GAA and has been statistically the better netminder during the postseason (60-0,.906SV% and 2.86GAA vs. Kuemper at 8.2-0,.901SV% and 2.44GAA).
Bednar stated that Kuemper was not at his best in Game 1, following the long layoff, but did well enough to win Colorado’s 4-3 OT victory. Kuemper was clearly not able to provide the answers Bednar wanted when Tampa Bay attempted to recover from its 2-0 series deficit.