Charles LeClaire-Imagn ImagesIMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Often forgotten among the Pittsburgh Penguins’ battle to insert youth into their lineup is second-year goalie Arturs Silovs. Silovs, 26, was among the dozen rookies who cycled through the Penguins lineup last season, and he had a typical rookie season with streaks of success but also extended periods of struggle, especially deeper into the season.
After a sturdy season, Silovs’s save percentage plummeted to .862 over 12 games in March and April before he was brilliant in a trio of Stanley Cup Playoff games in which he almost helped the team pull out of a 3-0 series deficit to the Philadelphia Flyers. As with most rookies, his issues were consistent.
Silovs fought long-range shots and had a tendency to serve juicy rebounds, in addition to adjusting to full-time NHL life. PHN chatted with Silovs this week about a central topic: Is he a different goalie this season?
“I would think so, yeah. I think I’m pretty confident in the way I play.
I feel structure wise, it feels good,” Silovs said. “I feel like I’m getting more mature too.
And yeah, I feel like my game is getting simpler and simpler.” Silovs also noted his improvement in dealing with screens and peering through traffic. Unfortunately for the goalie, the Penguins’ defense this season has been, kindly, terrible.
Except for the first game of the season and the last two, the team gave away scoring chances like candy at a Fireman’s parade. Silovs’s statistics do not look so good when viewed on stat sheets, but sometimes there are lies, damn lies, and statistics.
In fact, when compared to last season, Silovs stats are nearly identical. He’s got an .890 save percentage despite winning the last two games, allowing only two goals combined.
His adjusted goals-against average is 3.15, compared to 3.20 last season. And in a surprising nod to how bad the defending has been, he has been tagged with four “RBS” (Really Bad Starts) in eight starts, according to HockeyReference.
Yet, the eyes tell a much different story. And that’s the story Silovs wants to tell.
“Like it’s a shot on the net, but like you can have 40 shots, but maybe there’s only a couple Grade A chances, right? Or you can have like 20 shots, and half of them are like good scoring chances, so I think (goalie stats) really depends,” said Silovs.
“Sometimes it’s outworking someone in front. Sometimes it’s like they get a bounce, like a rebound, and their guy’s stick is right there, perfectly (in place).
You can’t really do much about it, and for me, it doesn’t matter what happens. It’s just try to play next shot, and yeah, I feel like there’s like so many games coming up, (that) I don’t really worry about it.
During the season, it is going to even out.” Ville Koivunen After getting an eight-year, $32 million contract in August, Koivunen immediately became a polarizing figure. Sure, he is part of the group of young players trying to make the transition from the AHL to the NHL, but he also struggled to produce offensively in 47 prior NHL games, notching just two goals and 14 points.
That’s not typically the stat line that nets a max-term deal, and general manager Kyle Dubas didn’t really have an answer for the deal beyond admitting he thought it was a good gamble. Fans who wanted other prospects in the lineup bristled, but the more he has played this season, the more Koivunen has progressed.
Saturday was his high point as he netted the overtime game-winner, just his fourth NHL goal. So, we had a simple question for Koivunen.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied is he with his game right now? “OK.
There are always things you can improve. Always.
So I think it’s been pretty good. I’d say like, eight.
Yeah, eight,” Koivunen told us Friday morning before his big night. “I think (eight) because, like, I made plays and had some scoring chances,” said Koivunen.
“You can improve, and I think be better. So I think we never want to be too satisfied.” Of course, he was getting chirped by defenseman Ilya Solovyov, sitting a few feet away as he answered.
To hear the native Russian speaker chirp the native Finn was a battle of accents befitting the modern NHL and a challenge for voice-to-text, but they laughed nonetheless. The usually happy Koivunen might not have taken into account how much better he can be, but his playmaking has been especially effective playing beside center Hendrix Lapierre.
The pair connected in the first game of the season and in the last two, showcasing Koivunen’s ability to see the game and make little plays that open up the offensive attack. With Koivunen lurking in the room to hear the answer Saturday, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins linemate Avery Hayes, who played his first NHL game of the season, dished in the postgame on what he likes about Koivunen’s game.
“He’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever played with,” Hayes said. “The way he can get passes through everyone, it’s special to watch and to see him get that one at the end.
He deserves it, so it was awesome.” To wit, Koivunen played a season-high 16:28 Saturday with a season-high three shots on goal. Over his last two games, he has two points (1-1-2) and is a plus-4.
Indeed, Koivunen is emerging, and where his potential will take him remains unknown. There will be more ups but also some struggles ahead, but it seems the coach is rewarding him with more opportunity.
It’s exactly how a rebuild and player progression usually works.
