Arturs Silovs breaks his silence after yet another Penguins shootout loss

Saturday was the latest gut punch, a 4-3 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets after Sidney Crosby tied it with 1:01 left.

Pittsburgh got the point, then watched it slip away again.

At this point it's not a quirky trend, it's a season problem.

StatMuse has the Penguins at 1-0-6 in shootouts, which is basically a weekly donation of standings points.

Silovs is not the only reason, but he's front and center when the skills competition starts.

Two different reports have him at 5 saves on 16 shootout attempts this season, which means 11 goals allowed on 16 tries.

As a fan, it's brutal watching a solid 65 minutes get decided by a coin-flip moment that never flips your way.

Silovs sounded like a goalie trying to stay sane after another one, saying overtime felt strong and the late tying goal earned a big point.

He also admitted that in the shootout, you still want the win.

He even pointed to the first shootout goal, saying he felt all over it and it still found a way in.

That's the maddening part, because it's not always a clean snipe, it's pucks leaking through.

Coach Dan Muse isn't helping the pressure by teasing a switch either.

A recent report had Muse saying he would not pull Silovs for the next shootout despite the numbers.

So the Penguins have to solve it the old-fashioned way, tighten the details before it ever gets there.

Cleaner third-period clears, one more shot funnelled to the net, and a little less hope hockey when the game turns into survival mode.

On the shootout side, it feels like Pittsburgh needs simpler reads from the crease.

Back up, stay patient, take away the first move, and stop chasing the deke like it's a highlight waiting to happen.

If the Penguins are going to stay in the Metro pack, they can't keep treating shootouts like bad luck.

The next milestone is turning one of these into a win, and letting Silovs build confidence instead of carrying another scar.

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