There weren’t many more ways Arturs Silovs could impress onlookers than with the determined effort he offered in net for the Pittsburgh Penguins in their final three games of the postseason.
But on Friday, managed to do that.
During the team’s exit interviews in Cranberry, the goaltender revealed he had been playing with an unspecified knee injury that will require an MRI for a thorough examination.
“It’s been probably three, four weeks,” Silovs said. “Tried to play it through.”
Despite that impairment, the rookie just did about everything he could to get the Penguins through the first round against the Philadelphia Flyers.
After falling behind 3-0 in the series, the Penguins replaced Stuart Skinner in net with Silovs and he proceeded to win Games 4 and 5.
And he came pretty close to winning Game 6, but a point shot through a screen by Flyers defenseman Cam York rang off the right post and beat Silovs’ glove at 17:32 of overtime for the only goal in a 1-0 series-clinching win for the Flyers on Wednesday.
In his three games over the series, Silovs finished with a 2-1 record, a 1.52 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage.
“For him to come into this series the way that he did, I can’t say enough about him,” coach Dan Muse said. “He’s such a competitor, his preparation is incredible, and he had a great season for us. A lot of big wins, and his game has continued to grow as the year went on.”
The Penguins acquired Silovs in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks on July 10 and opened the season with him in net, literally, as he made 25 saves in a 3-0 shutout win on the road against the New York Rangers on Oct. 7.
Largely platooning with Tristan Jarry to open the season, Silovs continued to alternate starts with Skinner when he was acquired in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers (for Jarry, in essence) on Dec. 12.
In 39 games over the regular season, Silovs posted a 19-12-8 record, a 3.07 GAA, .887 save percentage and two shutouts.
“I’m happy,” Silovs said of his season. “There’s been a lot of progress. I feel pretty confident going into the offseason. Just building this summer and getting ready for the next (season).”
Silovs is a pending restricted free agent this upcoming offseason and typically, when teams have such contract control over a player, it’s a mere formality that a deal will be agreed to.
But the Penguins have a few moving parts in net this summer.
Skinner is a pending unrestricted free agent and two promising prospects in Sergei Murashov and Joel Blomqvist (also a pending restricted free agent) are candidates for full-time promotions to the NHL roster.
Silovs is simply focused on making the best argument possible that he should be part of the Penguins moving forward.
“It’s up to (management),” Silovs said. “Just trying to do my best for all these guys. They deserve the best. I want to do my role and be that last guy who they can (trust).”
Having been a significant part of what was an impressive season for the Penguins, Silovs seems determined to be part of making an even greater impression.
“I think this group has more into it than everyone (outside commentary) thought,” Silovs said. “Even after now, the season’s done, there’s more to build. There’s, I think, a lot more in this group that we have (to) achieve so far.”