Penguins make huge goalie change, including an attention-grabbing twist to must-win Recreation 4

[ad_1] Nobody — and I imply nobody — noticed the Pittsburgh Penguins combating for his or her playoff lives in Recreation 4 of their first-round sequence towards their archrival Philadelphia Flyers, however that is the deal.

So, they've gone forward and made a large change by swapping Stuart Skinner — a goalie who has appeared within the final two Stanley Cup Finals with the Edmonton Oilers — for backup Arturs Silovs.

The 25-year-old appeared in three video games for Group Latvia on the 2026 Winter Olympics and has 10 earlier Stanley Cup Playoff begins, all of which got here throughout a shock run for the Vancouver Canucks through the 2023-24 season.

Arturs Silovs has been given the nod in internet for the Pittsburgh Penguins in Recreation 4. (Ron Chenoy-Imagn Pictures)

Now, which will have made you sit up since you realized the little subplot this film provides to the sequence.

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The coach of these 2023-24 Canucks? None aside from present Flyers bench-boss Rick Tocchet.

"Each guys have performed very nicely for us all yr," Penguins coach Dan Muse mentioned, per NHL.com. "You undergo all the common season, each guys have gained large video games. We now have a number of confidence in each guys. (The) determination is not based mostly on Stu's play; I believed Stu's performed rather well this sequence.

"We misplaced three video games and so (we) determined that we made some adjustments there within the lineup."

I prefer it when coaches say, "It wasn't due to his play..." as a result of, clearly, it's to some extent. If that they had been kicking a-- and taking names all sequence lengthy, they would not be pulling him.

The Flyers have shocked the Penguins this sequence and have managed to maintain their stellar offense off the rating sheet as a lot as attainable. (Eric Hartline-Imagn Pictures)

However, in a scenario like this, it's important to shake issues up. Nonetheless, is it good to shake issues up by choosing a backup goalie who the opposing coach may be very conversant in?

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I do not know that it's, however what alternative have they got?

Plus, goaltending is only a piece of the puzzle that has been arduous to place collectively for the Penguins this season. They have been means too simply falling into the Flyers' physicality/gamesmanship lure between whistles, and their white-hot offense from the common season has cooled down.

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So, it is price a shot, however it is a particular Hail Mary, particularly when the man behind the opposite bench is prone to level out each little weak spot he has.