Oct 7, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs (37) makes a save against the New York Rangers during the first period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Penguins' Arturs Silovs Makes History in Opener vs. Rangers

Originally posted on Breakaway on SI
By Jennifer Streeter | Last updated Oct 8, 2025 3:15 PM ET

Back in July, Arturs Silovs was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins by the Vancouver Canucks. In the 2025-26 NHL regular-season opener, Silovs then became the first Penguins' goaltender since 2013 to record a shutout in a season opener.

Pittsburgh opened their season in the second game of the NHL's opening night triple header against now former head coach Mike Sullivan — currently with the New York Rangers. On away ice at Madison Square Garden, the Penguins did not let any of these factors stop them; they took down the Rangers in 3-0 fashion. Undrafted Justin Brazeau scored two goals for the Penguins while Blake Lizotte tallied one.

Pittsburgh and Silovs will look to build upon their momentum in their home opener against the New York Islanders before also hosting Sullivan and the Rangers in an immediate follow-up matchup on Oct. 11.

Two of the three goals were scored during the final minutes of the third period, when the Rangers pulled fellow netminder Igor Shesterkin in attempt for the empty net advantage.

The two final goals of the night were scored in fairly immediate fashion (17:48, 18:08) following Shesterkin's departure from the crease.

Back to Silovs — he was acquired from Vancouver in exchange for forward Chase Stillman and a 2027 fourth-round pick. At the time of the trade, the 24 year old appeared in just 10 games for the Canucks that past season but Silovs in the American Hockey League, where he led the Abbotsford Canucks to the Calder Cup Championship as the playoff MVP.

Clearly, being traded to the Penguins did not put a damper on the Latvian's momentum. Silovs concluded the regular season opener by stopping all 25 shots faced against the Rangers.

Artemi Panarin, who had been the leading scorer for the Rangers in each of his five seasons, recorded two shots against Silovs in addition to Blueshirt veteran Mika Zibanejad tallying seven.

“I’m really happy for the guys,” Pittsburgh first-year head coach Dan Muse said. “They put in a lot of work during training camp. You always want to start things off on the right foot. I thought we got contributions from everyone today. That’s the exciting part. It’s a good start.”

The win made Silovs the first Pittsburgh goaltender to post a shutout in a season opener for the first time since Marc-Andre Fleury in 2013. This also marked Silovs's first career regular season shutout is his very first start with the Penguins.