Arturs Silovs has been Penguins’ playoff X-factor

Following their 3-2 win on Monday, the Pittsburgh Penguins have taken Games 4 and 5 from the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Pens started the series in a 0-3 hole, but has forced a Game 6 in Philadelphia on Wednesday. They’ve taken fewer penalties, captain Sidney Crosby has delivered back-to-back multi-point games, and most obviously, Arturs Silovs has taken over in net.

Silovs, 25, stepped in for Stuart Skinner after Game 3 and has been all Pittsburgh could’ve asked for, giving up two goals in each of his starts while sporting a .920 save percentage. If the former Vancouver Canuck can continue to provide that type of reliable goaltending, the Penguins are a serious candidate to pull off the reverse sweep and win this series.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton were joined by Penguins play-by-play announcer Josh Getzoff to discuss the importance of Silovs’ emergence to Pittsburgh’s comeback bid.

Carter Hutton: Something that I think going into these playoffs was a great asset is having Stuart Skinner and having Artus Silovs, a younger guy who’s been exposed to playoff hockey, just won a Calder Cup. He was obviously thrust in a tough situation with the Vancouver Canucks, but he’s got a .920 through games. How big of a factor has he been since the switch over in these last two games for the Pens?

Josh Getzoff: He’s been great, and I don’t want to take anything away from Stu, because when you look at those first three games, and you see the numbers there, they’re not exactly great, but he was the Penguins’ best player. Those scores, especially the first two, could’ve been a lot worse if it weren’t for Stu Skinner. But Dan Muse had to make a change, and he made a couple. Arturs Silovs is the biggest, but Ilya Solovyov has come in on the blue line the last couple of games, he’s a little bit more meat and potatoes to counteract some of the Flyers’ shenanigans. Elmer Soderblom, another guy who’s been in and out of the lineup, he came in again the last two and scores last night.

For Silovs, this is a guy it seems like the last few years, really, springtime hockey’s been a good thing for him. You mentioned that playoff run a couple years ago with Rick Tocchet, by the way, and the Vancouver Canucks. The spring before that he was with Team Latvia at the World Championships, is the goalie of the tournament, MVP, they get a bronze medal, he plays way above his head for Latvia. And then last spring he’s the MVP of the Calder Cup playoffs with the Abbotsford Canucks going to win the Calder Cup. Different levels, to be sure, and different types of stages, but the moment doesn’t seem to be too big for him.

You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Tuesday’s episode here…