Silovs makes 22 saves, Penguins shut out Golden Knights

PITTSBURGH -- Arturs Silovs made 22 saves, and the Pittsburgh Penguins scored three goals in the second period to win 5-0 against the Vegas Golden Knights at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.

The shutout was Silovs’ second in the NHL. He made 25 saves in a 3-0 season-opening win at the New York Rangers on Oct. 7. 

Bryan Rust, Ben Kindel and Justin Brazeau each had a goal and an assist, and Erik Karlsson had two assists for the Penguins (31-15-13), who are 3-0-2 in their past five games and 10-1-4 since Jan. 13. They lost 3-2 in a shootout at the Rangers on Saturday. 

“I think it's always a team effort,” said Silovs, who played for Team Latvia at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. “There’s a lot of second, third efforts from the guys -- battling, fighting, getting the blocks that we need. Felt pretty comfortable in the crease, like, seeing the puck, trying to get control of the rebounds.”

Adin Hill made 17 saves for the Golden Knights (28-18-14), who have lost two of three to start a five-game road trip. 

“Five goals against. We didn’t score,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “That is a concern to me. It’s too many against. Have to score too many goals to win.” 

Golden Knights captain Mark Stone left after taking a check to the left arm from Penguins defenseman Kris Letang in the final minute of the first period. Cassidy did not have an update. 

“He was getting looked at. I assume he’ll be on the plane with us to Buffalo,” Cassidy said. “And then, probably have a better update tomorrow. Upper body is all I was told. See where it lands.” 

Kindel put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 14:56 of the first period. The 18-year-old collected the puck in the neutral zone and drove to the slot for a wrist shot and the 15th goal of his rookie season. 

“I try and have the same mindset throughout the year,” Kindel said. “Obviously, the puck's going to go in at different points of the year. There's going to be dry streaks, and there's going to be hot streaks, but just keep playing the same way every night is what I'm trying to do.”

Egor Chinakhov made it 2-0 at 5:47 of the second period, taking a pass from Tommy Novak in the right face-off circle for a quick wrist shot six seconds after a power play expired. He has 10 goals in 21 games since being acquired in a trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 29.

Rust extended the lead to 3-0 on the power play at 9:34. Karlsson had a shot blocked by Jeremy Lauzon , leaving a loose puck in the slot for Rust to chip past Lauzon and Brayden McNabb to reach 20 goals for a seventh straight season. 

“I’m proud of that,” Rust said. “From kind of where I started, as a non-offensive threat into doing that seven years in a row, I think I’m really proud of that. I think I have to give a lot of credit to the guys I’ve played with, teams I’ve been on. But I’ve worked hard on it.”

Vegas allowed two power-play goals on Pittsburgh’s four chances after giving up one on 12 opportunities the previous four games. 

“I think we just had poor execution all game long,” Golden Knights forward Reilly Smith said. “Obviously, our penalty kill has been pretty good for us and that wasn’t good enough tonight.” 

Rickard Rakell pushed it to 4-0 on another power play at 15:06, stopping a shot from Karlsson with his left skate and wrapping a shot around Hill. 

Brazeau scored on a wrist shot from above the right circle at 14:59 of the third period for the 5-0 final. 

“Second period, they took it to us,” McNabb said. “We were out of it, basically.” 

NOTES: With goals from Kindel, Chinakhov and Brazeau, the Penguins have 73 goals by players in their first season with the team. It’s the most in the NHL this season and 13 more than the next closest (the Anaheim Ducks, 59). ... The Golden Knights have been outscored 9-1 in the first and second periods of their first three games out of the break for the Olympics. ... Karlsson has 908 points (204 goals, 704 assists), tied with Scott Stevens (908 points; 196 goals, 712 assists) for the 13th-most by a defenseman in League history. ... Vegas forward Mitch Marner had a point streak end at six games (seven points; four goals, three assists).