Kuemper leaves Avalanche – Predators Game 3 after taking stick up high

Colorado Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper left Game 3 against the Nashville Predators after a stick caught him up high, catching him in a small opening in his goalie mask.

It’s unclear where, exactly an errant stick quote Kuemper’s face. The most immediate concern is if it made contact with Kuemper’s eye. In a scary scene. Kuemper spent some time on the ice, then left for the locker room clutching his face.

To start the second period of Game 3, Kuemper was not on the Avalanche bench. Pavel Francouz replaced Kuemper as the Avalanche’s current goalie.

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Disturbingly, Darcy Kuemper’s suffered the misfortune of taking a stick up high (evading at least some of his mask protection) before. That happened to him as a member of the Coyotes back in 2019:

Francouz is no stranger to recent injury issues, either. He missed the entirety of last season for injury reasons.

Memorably, the Avalanche also navigated injuries to Francouz and Philipp Grubauer during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

This continues a downright baffling run of playoff goalie injuries. The Penguins and Hurricanes both suffered multiple goalie injuries, and the Predators entered the playoffs without Juuse Saros.

Here’s hoping that Darcy Kuemper avoided a major injury in Game 3. This post will be updated when more is known.

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

Kuemper leaves Avalanche – Predators Game 3 after taking stick up high originally appeared on NBCSports.com