Pittsburgh Penguins rookie goaltender Arturs Silovs is scheduled to start Friday’s game against the Minnesota Wild at PPG Paints Arena.

Coach Dan Muse announced Silovs’ status following an optional morning skate in Cranberry.

In 10 games this season, Silovs has a 4-2-4 record, a 2.44 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and one shutout.

He has never faced the Wild over the four partial seasons he has been in the NHL.

Rookie goaltender Sergei Murashov is slated to dress as the backup and is presumably expected to start Saturday’s home contest against the Seattle Kraken.

Notes:

• Penguins rookie forward Sam Poulin is expected to make his season debut after being recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) on Tuesday. In 16 AHL games, Poulin was Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s leading scorer with 15 points (seven goals, eight assists).

• Those attending the morning skate included:

Forwards – Connor Dewar, Kevin Hayes, Ben Kindel, Joona Koppanen, Blake Lizotte, Tommy Novak, Poulin, Philip Tomasino

Defensemen – Harrison Brunicke, Connor Clifton, Matt Dumba, Ryan Shea, Jack St. Ivany

Goaltender – Murashov, Silovs

• St. Ivany wore a black jersey for the morning skate, as opposed to the white (non-contact) jersey he has donned in recent days. While morning skates do not typically involve contact, Muse indicated St. Ivany is progressing in his recovery from a suspected right foot injury he suffered during the preseason.

St. Ivany remains designated to the season-opening injured non-roster list.

• Penguins rookie forward Filip Hallander watched the morning skate in gym clothing. Currently designated to injured reserve due to a blood clot in a leg, Hallander has been permitted to engage in some physical activity off the ice, according to Muse.

Hallander’s recovery is slated to keep him off the ice until mid-February.

Muse indicated Hallander has dealt with the emotional impact of his predicament well, particularly after missing out on the team’s recent two-game road trip to his native Sweden.

“He seems good,” Muse said. “He’s got a really good way about him just with his personality. It’s a really tough situation. He’s playing well when it happens. Not being able to go to Sweden. A lot of credit to him. He’s handled it as well as he possibly could. He’s just focusing on the things he can control. It’s the right mindset. It’s not always an easy one to have with that injury.”

• Former Penguins goaltending prospect Filip Gustavsson is scheduled to start in net for the Wild.

In 14 games this season, Gustavsson has a 5-7-2 record, a 2.99 goals-against average, an .897 save percentage and one shutout.

Throughout his career, Gustavsson has faced the Penguins in five games and has posted a 1-4-0 record, a 3.82 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage.

A second-round draft pick (No. 55 overall) in 2016, Gustavsson never played for the Penguins as he was dealt to the Ottawa Senators in 2018 as part of a three-team blockbuster trade that brought forward Derrick Brassard to Pittsburgh.

• Earlier in the day, the Wild activated defenseman Zach Bogosian and forward Nico Strum from injured reserve and assignd defenseman David Jiricek to Iowa of the AHL.

• The Wild are one of two active NHL franchises that the Penguins have never shut out. The Utah Mammoth are the other.

While the Mammoth franchise — which came into existence last season as the Utah Hockey Club — was largely composed of assets from the defunct Arizona Coyotes franchise, the NHL does not consider the Mammoth as a continuation of the Coyotes’ history (which includes the first incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets).

All-time, the Penguins shut out the Coyotes/Jets franchise on five occasions.

• The scheduled referees are Jean Hebert (No. 15) and Kendrick Nicholson (No. 30). The scheduled linesmen are Shandor Alphonso (No. 52) and Devin Berg (No. 57).

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