Dan Muse announces Silovs starts for Penguins vs Vegas, updates Crosby and Girard's status

Silovs was a 2019 sixth-round pick of Vancouver, and this start is bigger than a routine crease turn. Pittsburgh is asking a low-cap goalie to hold a contender's game on a road trip that still has teeth.

The reason is plain hockey. Silovs tracks well through traffic, stays calm on second chances, and already blanked Vegas 5-0 on March 1.

His full season line matters too. He entered Thursday at 14-8-8 with a 2.84 GAA and .898 save percentage in 30 games.

That is not Vezina stuff. It is steady-enough, cost-controlled goaltending, and for this roster that changes the math before the deadline dust fully settles.

If Silovs gives them another clean first 20 minutes, the Penguins can keep pushing their attack off quick exits instead of chasing the game.

You can feel the fan mood here, hopeful but guarded, because every solid Silovs start makes the crease look less like a weakness and more like a weapon.

It also protects the roster build. Sidney Crosby, who has 27-32-59 in 56 games, is still working back, so Pittsburgh needs saves that keep this from becoming a track meet.

Sam Girard being out matters as well. The 27-year-old left shot, a 2016 second-round Nashville pick, carries a $5 million AAV through 2026-27 and helps the first pass.

With Girard day to day, clean puck movement gets harder. That puts even more pressure on Silovs to kill plays before Vegas can build zone time.

Pittsburgh is 32-17-15 entering this game, and this start says Dubas and Dan Muse trust the cheaper solution in net right now. Thursday is not just about surviving Vegas, it is about proving Silovs can tilt the next stretch too.

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