Kuemper has been tossed into the fire because Josh Harding re-engaged in his battle against multiple sclerosis and Niklas Backstrom sustained a season-ending abdominal injury. The good thing is Kuemper hasn't been burned yet.
Kuemper has allowed two or fewer goals in 11 of his 19 starts. He is 11-4-3 with a 2.32 goals-against average, .920 save percentage and two shutouts in 20 appearances.
"I give Darcy credit. Our team was struggling, Josh was ill, Niklas was battling through some injuries, we threw him in in a road game in L.A. [on Jan. 7], he made 39 saves and we won 2-1 in a shootout," Fletcher said. "From that point on he's given us a chance to win every game he's played and he's won a lot of them."
Fletcher, though, hesitated to say Kuemper is definitely the guy the Wild will ride into the playoffs. He acquired Ilya Bryzgalov before the NHL Trade Deadline last week to serve as Kuemper's backup.
Fletcher doesn't appear ready to simply hand the keys to Kuemper just yet, not with the Wild scheduled to play their final 17 regular-season games over the next 35 days, including four sets of back-to-backs.
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