Silovs backs up Muse's first big decision in a big way
Dan Muse made one of his first bold coaching decisions for Tuesday's season opener in New York, starting Arturs Silovs over Tristan Jarry against the Rangers here in New York.
Both goaltenders had a fine preseason -- Silovs' .904 save percentage was marginally better than Jarry's .889. Both goaltenders will presumably get a significant workload over the course of the start of the season, and we'll likely see both goaltenders this week alone.
But coming into Madison Square Garden, on the road, for the first game of the year is a pretty tall task, and that fell on Silovs.
Silovs stepped up. His 25 saves helped carry the Penguins to a 3-0 win over the Rangers -- marking his first career regular-season NHL shutout, and just his second at this level after previously recording one in the postseason with Vancouver.
It was the second time a Penguins goaltender has recorded a shutout in his first game with the team, following Max Lagace's performance in Game 82 of the 2020-21 season. It was the third time in franchise history that that a goaltender recorded a shutout in the season opener, joining Marc-Andre Fleury, who recorded the feat in both 2006 and 2013.
It's hard to really nitpick a goaltender's game when nothing gets past him. It's worth noting that the Penguins were pretty strong defensively in front of him, really limiting things like odd-man breaks or high-danger chances. And while Silovs played well, it seemed like he could stand to improve with rebound control so as to limit subsequent shots after his initial saves.
Still, a shutout is a shutout. Not a bad first impression for the Penguins' newest goaltender.
"It felt great, it felt great to be on a new team," Silovs said. "I think we have pretty good chemistry with the guys already, and I felt like it's so nice to play. It's even better to win on the road."
Silovs said he was told on Monday that he'd get the start, and he was unsurprised -- he figured he'd get one of the early games, and he assumed the home opener on Thursday would go to Jarry.
The Penguins' workload this month is relatively easy, with only one back-to-back late in the month. If this were a traditional starter-backup setup with the goaltending tandem, there's really minimal games where the second goaltender is "needed." But it wouldn't be accurate to say that the Penguins have a No. 1 goaltender and a backup. Performance will dictate who gets the net. It's early, but Silovs is starting to make a good case to get a decent chunk of those starts.
THE ASYLUM
Silovs backs up Muse's first big decision in a big way
Dan Muse made one of his first bold coaching decisions for Tuesday's season opener in New York, starting Arturs Silovs over Tristan Jarry against the Rangers here in New York.
Both goaltenders had a fine preseason -- Silovs' .904 save percentage was marginally better than Jarry's .889. Both goaltenders will presumably get a significant workload over the course of the start of the season, and we'll likely see both goaltenders this week alone.
But coming into Madison Square Garden, on the road, for the first game of the year is a pretty tall task, and that fell on Silovs.
Silovs stepped up. His 25 saves helped carry the Penguins to a 3-0 win over the Rangers -- marking his first career regular-season NHL shutout, and just his second at this level after previously recording one in the postseason with Vancouver.
It was the second time a Penguins goaltender has recorded a shutout in his first game with the team, following Max Lagace's performance in Game 82 of the 2020-21 season. It was the third time in franchise history that that a goaltender recorded a shutout in the season opener, joining Marc-Andre Fleury, who recorded the feat in both 2006 and 2013.
It's hard to really nitpick a goaltender's game when nothing gets past him. It's worth noting that the Penguins were pretty strong defensively in front of him, really limiting things like odd-man breaks or high-danger chances. And while Silovs played well, it seemed like he could stand to improve with rebound control so as to limit subsequent shots after his initial saves.
Still, a shutout is a shutout. Not a bad first impression for the Penguins' newest goaltender.
"It felt great, it felt great to be on a new team," Silovs said. "I think we have pretty good chemistry with the guys already, and I felt like it's so nice to play. It's even better to win on the road."
Silovs said he was told on Monday that he'd get the start, and he was unsurprised -- he figured he'd get one of the early games, and he assumed the home opener on Thursday would go to Jarry.
The Penguins' workload this month is relatively easy, with only one back-to-back late in the month. If this were a traditional starter-backup setup with the goaltending tandem, there's really minimal games where the second goaltender is "needed." But it wouldn't be accurate to say that the Penguins have a No. 1 goaltender and a backup. Performance will dictate who gets the net. It's early, but Silovs is starting to make a good case to get a decent chunk of those starts.
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