Things moved pretty quickly for Arturs Silovs as the Pittsburgh Penguins rookie goaltender began play on Sunday.
To be precise, they took no less than 24 minutes to move.
That’s guesstimate of how long it took the Penguins and Vegas Golden Knights to orchestrate a hiccup-quick first period during a game at PPG Paints Arena.
Play began and largely just continued with few stoppages for things like icing or offside sequences and as a result, there was only one television timeout, presumably to the consternation of TNT’s advertisers.
“It was the fastest period I’ve ever seen,” Silovs said. “But I was happy about it, you know? It was like, 24, 25 minutes, and the first period was gone.”
As for the entire 60 minutes of game action, there was plenty to be happy about with Silovs as he stopped all 22 shots he faced and guided his club to a 5-0 shutout.
It was his second shutout of the season, following a 3-0 road win against the New York Rangers on the opening night of the 2024-25 campaign, Oct. 7.
“It’s always a team effort,” said Silovs, who deflected individual praise as well as he deflected most of Vegas’ shots on Sunday. “There’s a lot of second, third efforts from (teammates) battling, fighting, getting the blocks that we need. Felt pretty comfortable in the crease, like, seeing the puck, trying to get control of the rebounds.”
The result improved Silovs’ record on the season to 13-7-8 and extended a stretch of strong play.
In his past six games (dating to Jan. 22), he has posted a 5-1-0 mark, a 1.68 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage.
(Those tabulations do not include his play in the Olympics last month. In three contests for Latvia, Silovs had a 0-1-1 record, a 3.01 goals-against average and an .872 save percentage.)
“He’s obviously been fantastic for us lately,” Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. “He was awesome in the Olympics, he was fun to watch. He’s been great for us lately.
“He comes to the rink, he works extremely hard. He’s always in there with (goaltending coach Andy Chiodo) trying to get better. That shows a lot about his character.”
The Penguins showed plenty of character as a group on Sunday by trouncing the Golden Knights, who are in first place of the Pacific Division.
Since the Olympic break, the Penguins are 2-0-1 in three games without franchise center Sidney Crosby, who suffered a suspected right leg injury while skating for Canada in the tournament.
“We knew (the Golden Knights) were a really good team,” Rust said. “We knew that they were going to come out hard. We just wanted to outwork them. That’s what we did for the majority of the (game).”
One of the few stoppages in the first period was caused by rookie forward Ben Kindel’s 15th goal of the season 14:56 into regulation. He ripped a wrister from the slot past goaltender Adin Hill’s blocker.
“Just skated and tried to get a shot off,” Kindel said. “I don’t think I got much on it, but maybe surprised the goalie a bit or something. But I got lucky, it went in.”
Under harassment from Penguins forward Anthony Mantha, Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin turned the puck over at Vegas’ blue line near the visiting penalty box. Kindel swooped in to claim possession, gained the offensive zone and leveled out in the high slot. Utilizing Golden Knights defenseman Rasmus Andersson as a screen, Kindel snapped a wrister that glanced off the blocker of goaltender Adin Hill and found entry into the cage. The only assist went to Mantha.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) March 1, 2026
Similar fortunes unfolded for forward Egor Chinakhov, who collected his 13th goal 5:47 into the second period.
As a power-play opportunity expired for the hosts, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang rimmed the puck from the left point of the offensive zone to the end boards, where Penguins forward Justin Brazeau moved it along to the right corner. Penguins forward Tommy Novak took possession, got separation against Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb and fed a short-area pass to the near circle for Chinakhov, who sizzled a wrister to the far side past Hill’s blocker. Novak and Brazeau had assists.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) March 1, 2026
The Penguins were 2 for 4 on the power play Sunday, with both scores coming in the middle frame.
Rust reached the 20-goal mark for the seventh consecutive season at 9:34 of the second frame during a power-play sequence.
Controlling the puck at the center point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson advanced toward the high slot and launched a wrister toward a collection of humanity amassed above the crease. The puck struck Golden Knights defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and plopped to the ice below the lower hashmarks, where Rust quickly shoved in a forehand shot past Hill’s glove. Karlsson and Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin merited assists.
On the ensuing power play…
We like you just the way you are, Rusty ????
(via @NHL_On_TNT) https://t.co/61PBRvA34L pic.twitter.com/KzzPIOJHBe
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) March 1, 2026
The Penguins struck again during another power-play scenario as forward Rickard Rakell registered his 11th goal at 15:06 of the second.
Accepting a feed at the center point of Vegas’ zone, Karlsson snapped a shot/pass just to the left of the crease for Rakell, who deflected the puck with his backhand on net. Hill made the initial save but was unable to deny Rakell’s forehand shot on the ensuing rebound. Karlsson and Rust recorded assists.
It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood ????????
(via @NHL_On_TNT) pic.twitter.com/NrlIgC0l1O
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) March 1, 2026
There was an anxious moment at 17:05 of the second period when former Penguins forward Reilly Smith nearly scored.
After Smith ripped a wrister to the far side from the Penguins’ left circle, Silovs got a piece of the puck but allowed it to trickle loose in the crease. Before it could become a threat to enter the cage, Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon dove to swat it away from the blue paint.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) March 1, 2026
Penguins forward Justin Brazeau’s 16th goal at 14:59 of the third period capped the scoring.
Galloping into the offensive zone on the right wing, Kindel left a drop pass for Brazeau and drove into Hanifin. Utilizing the combined Kindel-Hanifin screen, Brazeau gripped and ripped a wrister from above the right circle to the far side, toasting Hill’s charred blocker. Kindel and Letang had assists.
Goal No. 16 for #16 ????
(via @NHL_on_TNT) pic.twitter.com/vOpVa7FlLG
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) March 1, 2026
Things got a bit faster for Silovs in the third period, at least in terms of how often he had to stop a puck, but he turned away all 10 shots he faced in the final frame to secure victory and maintain a stretch of success.
Fast or slow, the Penguins simply like the direction Silovs is moving in, particularly after a sluggish stretch in November and December.
In 11 games over those months, he had a 3-4-4 record, a 3.69 goals-against average and an .863 save percentage.
“You’re getting more comfortable,” Silovs said of his improved results. “You just kind of get in a routine. And I think you’re getting that experience all the time. You already understand the shooters better, the league better, every single team.
“I think it’s just building around your game. … And yeah, I think it’s going the right way.”
Notes:
• Penguins rookie forward Avery Hayes recorded a fighting major at 9:02 of the second period when he fought Golden Knights rookie forward Cole Reinhardt, who also incurred an unsportsmanlike conduct infraction on the sequence that led to the power-play opportunity Rust scored on.
• The Penguins shut out the Golden Knights for the second time in franchise history. The first occurrence was a 3-0 home win, Nov. 19, 2023. Alex Nedeljkovic made 38 saves. Defenseman Ryan Graves scored the winning goal.
• The Penguins played the Golden Knights for the first time this season Sunday. The only team they have yet to play this season is the Colorado Avalanche.
• Penguins forward Kevin Hayes, defenseman Ilya Solovyov and Graves were healthy scratches.
• Golden Knights forward Mark Stone did not record a shift past the 19:17 mark of the first period. The team announced he suffered an undisclosed injury following a seemingly innocuous hit by Letang.
The play that lead to Mark Stone leaving the game in the 1st period. ???? pic.twitter.com/ww8Wfz14vA
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) March 1, 2026
• Hill appeared in his 200th career game.
