PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Over the span of the season, Pens head coach Dan Muse hasn’t named a number one goalie. Asked over and over, Muse would only say he believes in both goaltenders. That’s put this team in a position for a potential historic comeback with Game 6 of their opening Stanley Cup playoffs series at Philadelphia Wednesday night.
Muse shook off whether changing from Stuart Skinner to Arturs Silovs changed the series with Silovs winning his two starts. He believes the way they used both during the season allowed for the team to believe in each.
“We need to change some things up,” Muse said. “Both guys have done some great things for us all year. I think honestly because that it makes it easier for me when decisions are being made like that because I’ve seen both guys go back and forth all season long. I’ve seen both guys win big games for us.”
Down the stretch of the regular season it was Skinner playing better and they set him up to be the starter for the post-season. Given his experience in the Stanley Cup Finals each of the last two years, that made sense. Plus, he was playing slightly better.
In the first three games Skinner stopped 62 of 71 shots for a .873 save percentage and 3.08 goals against average as the Pens lost all three and a game from the season ending. Silovs has 46 saves in 50 shots for a .920 save percentage and 2.00 goals against average in back-to-back wins.
“We have confidence in both guys, they’ve proven it throughout the season,” said Pens captain Sidney Crosby. “I think Artie has done a great job when they’ve applied pressure. When we made mistakes, he’s been there to bail us out. That’s going to happen, you are not going to play a perfect game and you are going to have to rely on your goalie to make those saves.”
To be fair to Skinner, the Pens have played a tighter game in the last couple as they faced elimination. As Muse said they’ve gotten to more of their game. There haven’t been as many odd-man rushes, but Silovs still made the saves. He also did it with 11 days in-between starts.
“Huge credit to Artie coming in there,” Muse said. “It’s not the same situation as the regular season when we were going for the most part game-to-game. He had more time off than he was used to and it’s a big credit to him just being able to come in.”
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“He’s been making some huge saves back there,” said forward Bryan Rust. “He’s been calm back there, same thing he’s been doing all year.”
“Playing goalie is fun, especially in the playoffs,” Silovs. “It’s the most exciting time of the year.”
And thanks in part to his performance, and how his coach used the goalies this season, they are still playing.
Dan Muse talks how he used the goalies, reaction to Arturs
Dan Muse talks how he used the goalies, reaction to Arturs
