Avalanche's Darcy Kuemper 'good to go' for second round of playoffs

The top-seeded Colorado Avalanche did well to complete their first-round sweep of the Nashville Predators via Monday's 5-3 win but did so without having starting goalie Darcy Kuemper in the lineup due to the right eye injury Kuemper suffered when he was poked by the stick of Predators center Ryan Johansen late in the first period of last Saturday's 7-3 victory. 

Colorado is still waiting to learn if it will face the Minnesota Wild or St. Louis Blues in the tournament's next round, but Avalanche coach Jared Bednar offered good news when he confirmed Kuemper will be ready to play the next time his teammates take the ice. 

"He'll be good to go," Bednar said of Kuemper, per Ryan Boulding of the NHL's website. "Let's put it that way. He's on the ice today. We might not play until Monday, Tuesday. I don't know. He's good to go. He got to practice today, so everything's looking positive in that." 

Backup Pavel Francouz held the fort down in Kuemper's absence and made a total of 46 saves on 51 shots while earning a .902 save percentage and 2.97 goals-against average. 

Meanwhile, the Blues lead the Wild 3-2 ahead of Thursday's Game 6 in St. Louis.