The Penguins’ youth movement keeps surfacing in different forms, and on this trip it’s showing up in goal and up front.
Arturs Silovs, now in his second season, is trying to separate himself from the uneven rookie version that flashed talent but faded late. Last year brought stretches where he looked sharp, then a rough closing run that saw his save percentage dip to .862 over 12 games in March and April. He followed that with a strong showing in three Stanley Cup Playoff games, nearly helping Pittsburgh climb out of a 3-0 hole against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The big question for Silovs this season is whether the game feels different to him. His answer was clear.
“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.”
He also pointed to improvement in handling screens and seeing through traffic. That matters, because the Penguins have not exactly made life easy in front of him. Outside of the first game of the season and the last two, the team has handed out quality chances far too freely, leaving Silovs exposed far too often.
The numbers, at first glance, don’t scream progress. He owns an .890 save percentage, though he has won his last two starts while giving up just two goals total.
His adjusted goals-against average sits at 3.15, barely different from 3.20 last season. And HockeyReference has credited him with four “RBS” (Really Bad Starts) in eight starts.
Silovs, though, doesn’t want the story told only through those numbers.
“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.”
If Silovs is trying to prove he’s grown, Ville Koivunen is trying to show that his reputation is starting to catch up with his production.
Koivunen drew attention in August when he landed an eight-year, $32 million contract, a deal that instantly split opinions. He had only two goals and 14 points in 47 previous NHL games, not the kind of offensive track record that usually leads to that kind of commitment. General manager Kyle Dubas didn’t offer much in the way of a defense of the move beyond saying he thought it was a good gamble.
That skepticism from fans was real. But Koivunen has looked more comfortable as the season has gone on, and Saturday gave him his best moment yet when he scored the overtime winner for his fourth NHL goal.
Before that breakthrough, Koivunen was asked how he’d rate his own game on a scale of 1 to 10.
“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.”
Defenseman Ilya Solovyov, sitting nearby, was chirping him as he answered, and the exchange turned into one of those accents-vs.-accents moments that only adds to the charm of the modern NHL. Koivunen and Solovyov laughed through it.
What’s been most noticeable is Koivunen’s chemistry with center Hendrix Lapierre. The two have connected in the first game of the season and in the last two, and Koivunen’s feel for the game keeps showing up in the little plays that open ice for everyone else.
Avery Hayes, who skated with Koivunen in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and played his first NHL game of the season, said exactly that after Saturday’s win.
“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.”
Koivunen backed that up with the workload too: a season-high 16:28 on Saturday and a season-high three shots on goal. Over his last two games, he has two points (1-1-2) and is a plus-4.
He’s moving forward, and the next steps won’t all be smooth. There will be more highs, and there will be more rough patches. But he’s getting more opportunity, and that’s the point.
In Other News...
Penguins Forward Group Suddenly Has A Chance To Settle Down
The Penguins forward group may finally be getting a chance to breathe a little. With the lineup still finding its shape, Rickard Rakell is off to a slow offensive start but continues to create looks, and general manager Kyle Dubas has kept the focus on the bigger picture by expressing confidence that the scoring will come. Around the league, there has been no shortage of roster churn and injury-related moves, but in Pittsburgh the more immediate question has been how the lines can stabilize long enough to start building some rhythm.
One place that could help is the evolving mix around Evgeni Malkin, where Hendrix Lapierre has been given an opportunity alongside Ville Koivunen after previously sitting as a healthy scratch. Add in Justin Brazeau getting closer to a return from a preseason lower-body injury, and the Penguins suddenly have a little more flexibility than they did a week ago. For a forward group trying to settle into roles, that kind of turnover can be disruptive, but it can also create the opening for someone to stick. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Need Rickard Rakell Now More Than Ever
Rickard Rakells season has been slow to take off, but the Penguins keep seeing the same thing from him night after night: chances. He has been around the puck, firing more than anyone else on the club, and it finally turned into a late goal that pulled Pittsburgh even in a game it needed to salvage. For a player whose production has lagged behind his opportunity, the process has still looked encouraging.
The timing only adds to the significance, because the Penguins are already leaning harder on their scoring depth. With Bryan Rust sidelined, Rakells role in the offense becomes even more important, and the team needs him to keep converting the looks he has been creating. If Pittsburgh is going to stay afloat through this stretch, it needs more than near-misses from one of its most dangerous forwards. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Are Finally Showing Signs Fans Have Been Waiting For
A healthy practice often tells you more about a teams direction than any one game, and the Penguins had a little of that kind of encouraging energy as the group got back on the ice. One injured Penguins player was a full participant at practice, a small but meaningful sign for a club that has spent plenty of time juggling its lineup and trying to get everyone pointed the same way again.
There was also some useful perspective from within the room, with Ville Koivunen and Arturs Silovs both talking about their current roles and the areas they are working to improve. For a Penguins team still sorting out its pieces, those kinds of conversations matter because they hint at players settling into bigger responsibilities, even if the bigger picture remains a work in progress. [Read more 🡒]