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, Skudra made 23 saves on 27 shots to record the victory in a 7-5 road win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Irbe 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.
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