#2 Darcy Kuemper
Congrats to Darcy Kuemper and his wife on the birth of their new child, his first kid! That is why he was absent on opening night as his wife welcomed their new baby into the world the night before. At the beginning of Sunday’s practice, Kuemper’s teammates welcomed him back with stick taps.
Tonight he makes his season debut. In 12 career games against the Flames, Kuemper has a record of 7-2-1 with a 1.71 goals against average, a .951 save percentage and four shutouts. That included a 32 save shutout on Nov. 25, 2022 on Black Friday at Capital One Arena where the Caps prevailed 3-0.
The .951 save percentage marks the second highest save percentage Kuemper has against a single franchise and the second lowest goals against average he has against one team.
Kuemper appeared in 57 games for the Capitals last season which tied his single season career high in games played, tying the previous year when he won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche.
Tonight the defense will have to step up after they failed to do so on Friday night with Charlie Lindgren in net. They allowed a four spot on the Pittsburgh Penguins and that won’t fly against a good Flames team.