DENVER – Frankie’s play said “relax.”

Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz made his second start of the playoffs in place of the injured Darcy Kuemper, who left Game 1 of the Western Conference finals series vs. Edmonton with an upper-body injury. Francouz saved all 24 shots he faced in Colorado’s 4-0 win Thursday at Ball Arena.

“He was great. It’s not easy to not play a lot at the end of the year, especially the playoffs, and jump in like that and make some key saves when the game was 0-0 and even when we had a couple-goal lead there,” Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen said. “It tells us how good of a goalie he is and how mentally strong he is.

Francouz said he figured he would be in goal after Tuesday’s opening game, but found out he was starting Wednesday afternoon.

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“For sure, you’re a little nervous and you have it in the back of your mind that it’s a really important game, but what helped me was the way our team played tonight,” Francouz said the night before his 32^nd birthday. “Since the first seconds, I knew they will help me a lot. That made me more calm, and I could just focus on my play.”

While nerves were admittedly present, there was no outward indication for Colorado coach Jared Bednar, who praised his goaltender’s work ethic and even-keeled approach even when he was watching most of the action.

“That’s his personality,” Bednar said. “You kind of saw it on the ice tonight. It’s a big moment. Obviously, he knows the magnitude of it coming into a playoff series like this.”

Avalanche fans chanted “Frankie!” before the national anthems were sung and repeated the chant after each of his big saves.

“It’s a special feeling, for sure. Something that’s tough to describe, it’s not happening every day,” Francouz said before admitting he prefers the team-centric chants.

“It was a special night for sure, but I think it was an overall team effort.”

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The first chant came after he denied Evander Kane in the first 90 seconds. And he made another save later in the opening period near the left faceoff circle after he got caught out of goal.

With Francouz in goal, the Avalanche scored the only goal they would need when Artturi Lehkonen redirected Nazem Kadri’s shot past Edmonton goaltender Mike Smith. The Avalanche added three more against the Oilers’ starting goaltender, while their backup was unbeatable on the night.

“I felt like he was really squaring the shooter, not overreactive, just kind of sitting in the right spot all night,” Bednar said. “He made most of the saves look easy.”

Francouz used his stick to poke the puck free late in the second and heard one more round of chants after he was named the game’s first star. It’s unclear whether Kuemper, who’s day-to-day, will be ready for Saturday’s Game 3 in Edmonton, but Francouz’s play is good reason for the Avalanche to feel comfortable either way.

“We’ll see,” Bednar said when asked if Francouz did enough to earn the start Saturday even if Kuemper is healthy.

“We’ll evaluate the game, talk to Darcy and Frankie and we will make our decision.”

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