Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs scheduled to start against Blue Jackets

Pittsburgh Penguins rookie goaltender Arturs Silovs is scheduled to start Saturday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena.

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

The Penguins have alternated starts in net between Silovs and Tristan Jarry in every game hitherto this season.

In four games this season, Silovs has a 3-1-0 record, a 2.25 goals against average, a .919 save percentage and one shutout.

Silovs has never faced the Blue Jackets in his career.

Notes:

• The Penguins’ lines and pairings during Saturday’s morning skate were:

67 Rickard Rakell – 87 Sidney Crosby – 17 Bryan Rust

39 Anthony Mantha – 71 Evgeni Malkin – 16 Justin Brazeau

11 Filip Hallander - 18 Tommy Novak – 53 Philip Tomasino

19 Connor Dewar – 46 Blake Lizotte – 55 Noel Acciari

28 Parker Wotherspoon – 65 Erik Karlsson

5 Ryan Shea – 58 Kris Letang

24 Matt Dumba – 75 Connor Clifton – 45 Harrison Brunicke

• Per Muse, Brunicke and forward Ben Kindel will be scratched as part of a development plan the team has designed for each rookie.

• With Brunicke slated to be a scratch and left-handed defenseman Caleb Jones landing on injured reserve Saturday morning, Dumba, a right-hander, is expected to open the contest on the left side of the third pairing. The right-handed Clifton will open on the right side.

• The top power-play unit included Crosby, Karlsson, Malkin, Rakell and Rust. The second power-play unit involved Brazeau, Letang, Mantha, Novak and Tomasino.

• Crosby has 1,698 career points.

• The Blue Jackets did not hold a morning skate after traveling overnight following a 5-1 home loss to the Washington Capitals.

• The Blue Jackets are expected to start goaltender Elvis Merzlikins. In three games this season, Merzlikins has a 2-1-0 record, a 2.69 goals against average and .927 save percentage.

• Throughout his career, Merzlikins has played the Penguins in 11 contests and posted a 3-7-0 record, a 3.80 goals against average and an .890 save percentage.

• This will be the first matchup between two Latvian-born goaltenders since Peteris Skudra faced Arturs Irbe on Jan. 21, 2002.

As a member of the Vancouver Canucks, Irbe made 23 saves on 27 shots to record the victory in a 7-5 road win against the Hurricanes. Skudra stopped 19 of 22 shots but was not the goaltender of record.

• Blue Jackets forward Zach Aston-Reese has 99 career points.

Over parts of five seasons with the Penguins, Aston-Reese scored 62 points (29 goals, 33 assists) in 213 games.

• Blue Jackets forward Charlie Coyle has 299 career assists.

• The scheduled referees are Kyle Rehman (No. 10) and Pierre Lambert (No. 25) while the linesmen are Brandon Gawryletz (No. 64) and Jonathan Deschamps (No. 80).

• Before the game, the Penguins will formally induct former executives Scotty Bowman and Eddie Johnston as well as former players Ron Francis and Kevin Stevens into the team’s re-launched hall of fame.