The Minnesota Wild recalled goaltender Darcy Kuemper from the American Hockey League's Houston Aeros, the team announced Wednesday.
Niklas Backstrom injury: Darcy Kuemper recalled from AHL
While the Minnesota Wild have yet to update the status of Niklas Backstrom, the team did announce that Darcy Kuemper has been recalled from the AHL.
Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
This move was expected, given the injury sustained by starting goaltender Niklas Backstrom during warmups on Tuesday night. Backstrom sustained some kind of lower-body injury while extended for a shot. He was unable to play in the game and apparently wouldn't have been able to act as a backup in case of emergency, either.
It remains unclear how serious Backstrom’s injury is, as the Wild have yet to update his status. However, the team wasn’t going to enter Game 2 without an NHL-caliber goaltender to act as backup in the event Backstrom is unavailable.
Josh Harding was able to step in for Backstrom and compiled an impressive performance, stopping 35 of 37 shots faced in 76 minutes of playing time. Harding will act as the team's starter in Backstrom's absence.
Kuemper appeared in six games for the Wild this season, registering a .916 save percentage and 2.08 goals against average.
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