Darcy Kuemper is being evaluated for a lower-body injury, and the Arizona Coyotes will have a better idea of a recovery timeline for the goalie in the next day or two, coach Rick Tocchet said Tuesday.
Kuemper is returning to Arizona while the Coyotes are on a seven-game road trip. He left early in the third period of a 3-2 win at the Colorado Avalanche on Monday in the opener of the trip. Kuemper is 7-7-2 with a 2.41 goals-against average, .914 save percentage and one shutout in 18 games (all starts) this season. He missed nearly 10 weeks last season because of a lower-body injury.
Antti Raanta made 16 saves in relief of Kuemper and is expected to receive the majority of the starts. He's 4-2-1 with a 3.65 GAA and .903 save percentage in seven games (six starts).
"He's a capable guy," Tocchet said of Raanta. "You saw him last night what he did for us and obviously how he's matured over the years.
"'Rants' is hard on himself. He's a great guy and everyone loves to play for him, block shots, win for the guy. I've seen the swagger; when he has the swagger, he's got to have that swagger. Sometimes his body language, he's mad at himself. I've seen some stretches where he's won five, six games in a row where he's stolen games for us. That's the type of goalie he is. He's got the ball now, time to have that swagger."
Raanta was 9-9-1 with a 2.61 GAA, .922 save percentage and one shutout while Kuemper was sidelined last season but was unfit to play most of a four-game series win against the Nashville Predators in the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers.
"I feel great," Raanta said. "It's been a couple bumps in the road this season, but hopefully those are behind me. I've been working hard to get back to my best and everything feels good on the ice and off the ice. Obviously, you get a lot of confidence from yesterday. I feel like I haven't been able to be that consistent this year. There have been some really good periods, some really good saves, some really good 55 minutes in a game and then some not-that-good things."
The Coyotes (12-10-3), who are fifth in the Honda West Division, play at the Avalanche again Wednesday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-A, NHL.TV). The top four teams in each division will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"We're going to play a ton of games and we're going to have to manage it, and we're going to have to get [goalie Adin Hill] ready to play some games for us," Tocchet said. "We'll make sure 'Rants' gets his rest because I'm not sure we can play him six, seven games in a row with the schedule we're in."
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