Arturs Silovs has faced plenty of adversity in the Stanley Cup Playoffs already. But somehow, he keeps coming out on the winning end.
At the end of the day, that’s the only result that matters to him.
“I think we dominated the second period, and then we didn’t give them anything in the third,” Silovs said after the game. “So now it matters to capitalize, and that’s what’s most important.”
The Canucks exhilarating comeback, from down 4-1 late in the second to a 5-4 victory in Game 1 against the Edmonton Oilers, required a hill to climb first. That hill came in the form of some major mistakes from Ian Cole that led to three Oilers goals and one crucial error by Silovs on Zach Hyman’s tally in the second.
But rather than consider the series opener a lost cause, Silovs and his teammates settled down and took over.
“Nothing is perfect. But I just tried to stay cool, and we managed to score the second goal and hold onto 4-2, just getting into the third, shut it down, and maybe we can come back.”
Silovs didn’t have a whole lot to do as the Canucks mounted their comeback, only facing eight shots across the final 40 minutes. But when the Oilers pressed in the dying moments of the game, he came up clutch.
“I was just trying to keep [the puck] either away from all the scrums in front of me; that or just tried to eat it,” Silovs said. “Especially like the last three, four minutes if it’s a one goal difference, teams scramble. They try to shoot anything in the net and try to maybe tip it—maybe, it’s going to be a screen, so we’re just trying to make it easy.”
“I was battling for the guys. They did such an amazing job today and in my mind, I couldn’t let them down.”
Silovs also didn’t face a single shot from Connor McDavid in his first meeting with the Oilers. Still, he knows what to expect when McDavid inevitably gets his looks.
“He has a lot of speed and skill, so you just have to be patient. You don’t want to give him too much space, right? Because he can create a lot.”
Being in the spotlight of a team’s postseason run is always hard for a goaltender, especially a rookie. Fortunately, Silovs has enough experience and the know-how to reset his mind in a seemingly finished game, and just as importantly, his teammates do, too.
And as Silovs himself noted, that willingness to battle can take you extremely deep in the playoffs.
“I think that’s the biggest strength of this team. Like winning the games where a lot of people would say are hopeless,” Silovs said. “We just managed to push; show character like blocking shots and scoring game-winning goals. That’s the best thing you can ever have.”
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