Avalanche net belongs to Darcy Kuemper in Stanley Cup Final

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Colorado Avalanche goaltender Darcy Kuemper (35) gives up a goal to the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period of Game 1 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/John Locher)

DENVER ā€“ Darcy Kuemper smirked.

A day after saying he and Colorado Avalanche goalie partner Pavel Francouz usually get a text message the night before a game telling them who's starting, he finally let on that it wasn't such a secret going into the Stanley Cup Final.

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ā€œI might have known a little bit longer," he said.

There was no goalie controversy then and there's no goalie controversy now for the Avalanche, who beat the back-to-back defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in overtime to take the opener of the best-of-seven series. Kuemper made 20 saves on 23 shots and has coach Jared Bednar's trust going into Game 2 Saturday night.

"I was pretty happy with his performance," Bednar said. ā€œDarcy is a guy we leaned on heavily all year long. Itā€™s why we relied on him to do this job.ā€

The Avalanche played it like it was some sort of debate between Kuemper, their starter all season who has missed time this playoffs with injury, and Francouz, who was 6-0 filling in. They know they have options as one of just five teams in NHL history to have two different goaltenders win at least five games each during a playoff run.

But most teams would love to lean on one guy, and Kuemper taking an inadvertent stick to the right eye through a hole in his mask in the first round is the only thing keeping him from playing every game.

Kuemper insists now he's fully healthy. That was clear in a couple of important stops he made on three successful Colorado penalty kills in Game 1, which was another step for him putting the eye injury in the past.

ā€œIt was an unfortunate incident in the first round,ā€ he said. "Iā€™m glad I came out of it and everything is back to normal now, so nothing you can do about it. Itā€™s not easy watching some of those games, but the team has been so great that Iā€™ve just been worried about getting myself back sharp and getting healthy.ā€

POINT GIVEN

Lightning star Brayden Point got off to a bit of a slow start in Game 1, but that's understandable given he hadn't played in a month because of a right leg injury. Despite the long layoff, Point skated almost 18 minutes, assisted on Nick Paul's goal and drew a penalty.

After starting the series on Tampa Bay's third line, Point is now a candidate to move up closer to his usual first-line role.

ā€œItā€™s not per se where Iā€™m going to put Brayden Point,ā€ coach Jon Cooper said Thursday. ā€œItā€™s whatā€™s best for our team, and usually when heā€™s up in the lineup, thatā€™s good for us."

Cooper liked what he saw in Point in the opener, although it's clear the Lightning's leading goal-scorer the past two playoffs isn't back to that form yet.

ā€œHe handled it pretty well,ā€ Cooper said. "Heā€™s getting his game and his hands in order. I can expect him to get more ice time if heā€™s feeling better.ā€

EXTRA REST

Neither team practiced Thursday with an extra day between Games 1 and 2. Some Avalanche players worked out at the rink, but the priority is rest with just about everyone anticipating a lengthy series.

ā€œIn a seven-game series, you canā€™t get caught admiring a win, or whatever you want to call it,ā€ Colorado defenseman Bowen Byram said. ā€œWeā€™ll get prepared in the next couple days and get ready to go again."

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Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno

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