Oilers Can't Sleep on Arturs Silovs
EDMONTON — It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
The playoffs are in full swing – with the second round of competition continuing on today. The Edmonton Oilers will play their first game against their Pacific Division rivals, the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday. In the meantime preparation and staying sharp are of the utmost importance.
One way the Oilers can do that, is by not taking any of the Canucks players for granted. The Oilers know more than anyone that anything (and often everything) can – and does – happen in the playoffs.
Once game 82 of the regular season is over, everything shifts back to zero for each NHL squad. Every player and coach will tell you that the playoffs are a “new season” and you need to throw out the window everything that happened before the playoffs.
This leads us to the Oilers preparing to play the Canucks – one of the biggest questions surrounding the Canucks is who will be in net. Thatcher Demko is the bonafide starter, but his injury status has his availability up in the air for the second round. Casey DeSmith has filled in admirably, but the true story here is Arturs Silovs.
Arturs Silovs Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Silvos has nine NHL regular season games under his belt – and for that reason some pundits are writing off his potential impact on this series.
I believe that would be a terrible mistake.
Rookie goaltenders can surprise for multiple reasons – especially in the playoffs. In the cases of Cam Ward and Jordan Binnington, they were both rookies during the regular season and then led their respective teams to a Stanley Cup in the post season.
Cam Ward. James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
The important thing to note about both Ward and Binnington – they both played 20+ games during the regular season of their rookie year. They were both able to build off of that for the playoffs.
In the case of Ward, his team had a winning record with him in net (14-8-2) but he posted abysmal stats other wise – 3.68 goals against average (GAA) and a .882 save percentage (SV%). This flipped in the playoffs where he started 21 games (15-8-0 record) and posted a 2.14 GAA and a .920 SV%.
Jordan Binnington. Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
For Binnington, it was all about keeping the good times rolling. He posted a ridiculous 24-5-1 record to go along with an absurd 1.89 GAA and a .927 SV%. In the post season he went 16-10-0 with a 2.46 GAA and a .914 SV%.
Silovs has had an average NHL career so far – a 6-2-1 record to pair with a 2.62 GAA and a .898 SV%. His playoffs so far have been outstanding. Silovs has a 2-1-0 record, 1.70 GAA and a .938 SV%.
Anything can happen in the playoffs – including a rookie goaltender stealing a series for a team. Even if it’s not likely, it could happen and the Oilers need to do everything they can to not take the chance and do everything that made them successful against the Los Angeles Kings all over again.
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