Wild's Kuemper learning to win the 'easy' ones

DENVER – Darcy Kuemper didn't have the best seat in the house during the Wild's dominant season-opening victory over Colorado on Thursday night.

In fact, the youngest opening-night starting goalie in Wild history probably could have used binoculars. Most of the game was played on the other side of the rink while Kuemper stood in his crease, waiting patiently for large stretches of time to see a shot.

"It's definitely fun to watch, but you've got to make sure you don't become a spectator," Kuemper, 24, said. "You've got to stay into it mentally."

Zach Parise, who scored a goal and had two assists, chuckled.

"I wouldn't be complaining about a 16-save shutout," Parise cracked Friday — a day before the Wild's rematch with the Avalanche at the Pepsi Center. "Hopefully that'll be the case a lot of the nights. You'd hope he can get used to that because I like my chances giving up 16 as opposed to them throwing 35 on him."

Kuemper is not complaining one iota about his 16-save shutout. But many goalies will tell you that sometimes a lot of action early helps them get into a game. In Kuemper's season debut a year ago in Toronto, the Wild outshot the Maple Leafs 37-14 but lost 4-1 because Kuemper allowed three goals on seven shots through 32-plus minutes.

But if you're a netminder playing in a Mike Yeo system, you better get used to having lulls between action. Last season, the Wild gave up the fifth-fewest shots per game in the NHL (27.7).

Kuemper utters things aloud to himself like, "Stay sharp, stay ready, keep your eye on the puck, be aware."

That Toronto game for Kuemper was, Yeo said, "light years ago." Niklas Backstrom was injured. The Wild, after losing Josh Harding to the effects of multiple sclerosis the season before, was learning how to best manage Harding's illness and didn't want to start him in consecutive games after he played the night before in Buffalo.

So Kuemper parachuted from the minors for a season debut in the intimidating center of the hockey universe, Toronto. Kuemper admitted afterward that in a game the Wild dominated but had trouble scoring in, he worried "about stopping the next shot."

Kuemper didn't start another game for the Wild until almost three months later. He returned a more confident goalie, stole a game in Los Angeles and became the Wild's savior with Backstrom ailing and Harding out for the season.

"It is funny how my first game last year and my first game this year were very similar but ended very oppositely," Kuemper said. "[Thursday] night gives me confidence I can play in a game like that. It just shows the maturing process that happens with a young player. I'm still trying to learn and keep getting better, but then again, when the guys play like they did, it's pretty easy.

Saturday he very well could get peppered with pucks.