The Pittsburgh Penguins are finally coming out of the holiday break and are getting set to take on the Chicago Blackhawks before they head home to PPG Paints Arena for 2 games. But ahead of the matchup with Chicago, head coach Dan Muse named his starting goalie.
Arturs Silovs will get the start for the Penguins as they look to get back on track after dropping their most recent game on the road to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Stuart Skinner got the start against Toronto and took the loss right before the holiday break.
But Silovs gets the first go out of the holiday break as the Penguins are looking to pile some wins back together after slipping down the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference standings. Silovs needs a good start to get the Penguins rolling again.
On the year, Silovs is 5-5-6 with a goals against average of 3.22 and a save percentage of .889. Not great numbers so far this year as knowing that he started out so well by shutting out the New York Rangers on the road to begin the season.
Silovs was in goal when the Penguins blew a 5-1 lead to the San Jose Sharks just a few short weeks ago. Silovs is in need of some consistent good starts as fans have been calling for him to go down to Wilkes-Barre Scranton and get some starts down there.
But it does not make logical sense to send Silovs down right now as he has not had a full season in Pittsburgh yet and is only 24 years old. He was acquired in the offseason from the Vancouver Canucks and deserves at least a full season in the NHL with Pittsburgh before being judged.
Not to mention the fact that his defense as of late has not been helping him out and has been leaving all of their goalies out to dry. But SIlovs needs to get it together and get a win for his team and beat a Blackhawks team that they should be favored against.