The Wraparound: Kuemper or Francouz for Avalanche in Game 4?

The Wraparound is your look at the 2022 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. We’ll break down Game 4 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final, including the all-important television information.

• After a 7-0 blowout loss in Game 2, the Lightning returned the favor, clobbering the Avalanche 6-2. Can Tampa Bay even up the series, or will the Avalanche bounce back and put the repeat champions on the brink?

• Aside from GM of the Year, the league handed out the remaining 2022 NHL Awards on Tuesday. Auston Matthews locked down the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay to complete quite the season, Igor Shesterkin won the Vezina, Cale Makar notched the Norris, and Moritz Seider captured the Calder.

• Coaches continue to lock down jobs around the NHL. Adam Gretz wonders if Peter DeBoer can lead the Stars to a quick turnaround. After turning the Oilers’ 2021-22 season around quickly, Jay Woodcroft received a contract extension.

In an ideal world, every contending team would be able to identify a rock-solid goalie they can count on during the playoffs.

In the real world … well, there aren’t a lot of goalies as reliable as Andrei Vasilevskiy. Many are most impressed by Vasilevskiy’s occasionally acrobatic saves, or the way he performs after a loss. For me, it’s just how often he’s reliable, and frequently elite. Vasilevskiy’s doubled any other goalie’s workload the past three postseasons (68 playoff games; Semyon Varlamov‘s second at 34) while being a regular season workhorse (157 regular season games since 2019-20, second only to Connor Hellebuyck‘s 169).

Truly, Vasilevskiy presents the Lightning with a rare (if not literally unique) luxury of reliably elite playoff goaltending.

The Avalanche do not enjoy that luxury.

Now, let’s make this clear: the Avalanche