The goalie did not skate Wednesday after he sustained an upper-body injury and did not return in Colorado's 8-6 win in Game 1 on Tuesday.
Kuemper allowed three goals on 16 shots before leaving the game at 7:19 of the second period. He was relieved by Pavel Francouz, who made 18 saves.
"Yeah, he relayed that he was having some issues," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Wednesday. "So I told 'Pav' to get ready. I think 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."
Asked about Kuemper's availability for Game 2, Bednar said, "We'll see."
The Avalanche will try to extend their lead in the best-of-7 series, when they host the Oilers in Game 2 on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS).
Colorado had a 6-3 lead when Kuemper left. He was delayed coming out at the start of the second because of an equipment issue.
"It's obviously easier if you have a pretty good lead, so I think that kind of helped us for sure," Francouz said.
Kuemper is 6-2 with a 2.65 goals-against average and .897 save percentage in 10 Stanley Cup Playoff starts. He sustained an eye injury in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round against the Nashville Predators and did not play in Game 4. Francouz made 31 saves in a 5-3 win to complete a four-game sweep.
Kuemper was 37-12-4 with a 2.54 GAA, .921 save percentage and five shutouts in 57 starts during the regular season. He is 13-8-0 with a 2.78 GAA, .908 save percentage and one shutout in 28 career playoff games (24 starts) with the Avalanche, Arizona Coyotes and Minnesota Wild.
"Hopefully 'Kuemps' is OK and we get him back," Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon said. "But it is what it is. We're doing to have to do our best with whoever we have."
NHL.com independent correspondent Ryan Boulding contributed to this report
