Darcy Kuemper’s availability for Game 2 is unclear: “We’ll see,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said

Whether Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper plays in Thursday’s Game 2 against Edmonton in the Western Conference finals is uncertain.

“We’ll see,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said Wednesday. “I don’t know yet.”

Kuemper, who sustained an “upper-body” injury early in the second period of Colorado’s 8-6 victory in Game 1 on Tuesday night, pulled himself out of the game during a stoppage at 7:19. Bednar said he knew Kuemper was hurting and had already told backup Pavel Francouz to be prepared to play.

“He relayed that he was having some issues, so I told ‘Pav’ to get ready,” Bednar said. “It was during our power play, so no immediate rush to get him out of there. And as soon as we got the opportunity, we pulled him out.”

Kuemper, who catches left-handed, and Francouz, a righty, each allowed three goals in Game 1, both with subpar save percentages of .813 and .857, respectively. Francouz inherited a 6-3 lead that grew to 7-3 before Edmonton scored three consecutive goals to get within 7-6 with 7:24 remaining in the third period.

Kuemper took a shot off the helmet shortly before his departure and might have sustained another head injury. As the scheduled starter on Dec. 1 at Toronto, he had a puck carom off his head at the morning skate and was a late scratch — forcing the Avs to use an emergency backup.

Bednar, per usual, declined to identify Kuemper’s injury. “I’m not going to get into his injury, especially this time of year,” he said.

If Kuemper isn’t cleared for Game 2, Francouz will make his fourth appearance and second start of the playoffs. He replaced Kuemper because of an eye injury in Game 3 of the first-round series against Nashville and started Game 4. The Avs won both games during which Francouz had save percentages of .900 and .903. He’s at .889 for the postseason.

Kuemper has played in 10 playoff games, all starts, and has a .897 save percentage.

Colorado is carrying three other goalies, including rookie Justus Annunen, who was No. 1 for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles and would serve as Francouz’s backup if Kuemper isn’t cleared. Annunen struggled in two NHL appearances with the Avs this season, with a 4.34 goals-against average and .863 save percentage.

Fellow minor-league goalies Hunter Miska and Trent Miner are also with the Avs.

“Hopefully ‘Kuemps’ is OK and we get him back,” Avs center Nathan MacKinnon said after Game 1. “But it is what it is. We’re going to have to do our best with whoever we have.”

Having reviewed the video from Game 1, Bednar said his team’s focus for Game 2 is to tighten up defensively.

“I liked a lot of things about our game, but I certainly look at the goals and scoring chances that we gave up — whenever you’re giving up a scoring chance it’s a mistake. It’s really that simple,” he said. “Even the elite players, they’re going to create when you’re doing everything right, a little bit, but not to the level that we gave up last night.

“So I look at our game, loved everything we did offensively, I think there’s a lot of really good things there. Work ethic, competitiveness, our puck play, managed the puck well in a lot of different areas on the offensive side of things. Defensively, there’s some things we got to improve. I would expect it to tighten up because I’m sure they’re feeling the same way. You’re not going to win a lot of playoff games when you give up six or seven.”

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