Silovs' 26-Save Shutout Ends Penguins' Skid — Black Makes NHL History
GOATIFYPittsburgh did not need another moral victory. After four straight losses and a road trip that had exposed too many defensive breakdowns, the Penguins needed a game that looked controlled from the opening shift to the final horn. They finally got one against Florida — and Arturs Silovs made sure it ended with a zero on the scoreboard.
The Latvian goaltender stopped all 26 shots in a 4-0 win on Thursday, October 22. Nick Robertson scored twice, while Evgeni Malkin and Hendrix Lapierre each supplied a goal and an assist. Pittsburgh snapped its four-game skid and moved to 4-6-1, but the result carried an unusual second storyline: Florida rookie Cooper Black became the tallest goaltender ever to play in the NHL at 6-foot-9.
One goalie celebrated his fourth career shutout; the other reached a historic milestone on the wrong end of the score. What made the game significant was not just the contrast between the two netminders. It was how differently the teams handled rush chances, special teams and the pressure of trying to stop a slide.
Robertson gave Pittsburgh the first goal — and the final word
Robertson's first goal did not arrive from an elaborate cycle or a long spell of possession. It came from the kind of direct, decisive transition Pittsburgh had been missing. Connor Dewar moved the puck forward, Robertson found room in the high slot, and his wrist shot beat Cooper Black's glove at 15:19 of the first period. That opening goal mattered because it gave a fragile Penguins team something tangible to defend rather than another deficit to chase.
Pittsburgh entered the night having gone 1-6-1 across its previous eight games. The club had also surrendered at least five goals in each of four consecutive defeats. A single goal could not repair those numbers, but an early lead allowed the Penguins to play with clearer responsibilities. They could pressure without gambling on every possession and ask Florida to make the more difficult decisions while trailing.
Robertson's second goal was the opposite kind of finish: an empty-netter at 17:34 of the third period. It made the final score 4-0 and gave him six goals for the season, level with Malkin for Pittsburgh's team lead. The empty-net goal was not the decisive play, yet it illustrated a useful difference from the recent skid. Pittsburgh had protected the lead long enough to force Florida into a late extra-attacker gamble, then finished the job instead of inviting another nervous ending.
The winger's role also gives the Penguins a wider offensive story. Acquired from Toronto in July and signed to a two-year contract, Robertson arrived with a reputation for finding shooting lanes and supplying goals in limited opportunities. Two goals against Florida do not guarantee a breakout season, but they underline why adding a natural finisher can change the distribution of responsibility around an older core.
There is a temptation to treat one convincing result as proof that the Penguins have turned a corner. The better reading is narrower: they finally executed a recognizable winning plan for three periods. Robertson delivered the finish, but his chances were created by quicker puck movement and better support away from the puck. If those habits survive the next game, the scoring will have more meaning than a single night on the stat sheet.
Silovs' 26 saves mattered most when Florida had the advantage
The headline statistic is straightforward: 26 shots, 26 saves, no goals allowed. For Silovs, it was his second shutout of the young season and fourth in the NHL. For Pittsburgh, the more important detail may have been how the team protected that performance. A shutout can come from a goalie stealing a game; this one also required teammates to prevent Florida from turning territorial pressure into the kind of repeated, uncontested chances that had hurt Pittsburgh on the road.
The clearest example came late in the second period. Silovs received a double-minor penalty for high-sticking Sam Bennett at 16:17, handing the Panthers four minutes of power-play time. Florida did not register a shot on goal during that stretch. The penalty was an avoidable mistake by the goaltender, but the response from the penalty killers was emphatic. They denied clean entries, kept their coverage connected and gave Florida very little chance to convert a potentially game-changing opportunity.
That sequence helps explain why the 4-0 scoreline was more than a hot goaltender papering over cracks. The Panthers finished 0-for-4 on the power play, and Pittsburgh's defensive organization held through the moments when a single Florida goal might have changed the mood. Silovs still had to make the saves that reached him. His composure gave the skaters confidence to maintain the plan rather than chase the next play.
There is a wider contrast in his season. Silovs had conceded five goals in each of his previous two starts against Colorado and Utah. Returning home and shutting out a Florida lineup with considerable offensive talent is a powerful immediate response, although one start does not erase the volatility of an early-season sample. It shows what is possible when his positioning, rebound control and the structure in front of him reinforce one another.
Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse emphasized the consistency of the overall effort after the game, rather than suggesting that the goalie alone had rescued the night. That distinction is crucial. Silovs can give the Penguins a chance to win, but he cannot be expected to overcome loose neutral-zone coverage every time. Thursday offered a more sustainable model: the goalie handled his work, and the team reduced the number of emergencies it asked him to solve.
Black made NHL history at 6-foot-9 — but Florida offered little protection
For Black, the game will remain memorable regardless of the result. At 6-foot-9, the 25-year-old became the tallest goaltender in NHL history when he stepped onto the ice in Pittsburgh. He surpassed the previous 6-foot-7 goalie group that included Ben Bishop, Mikko Koskinen, Ivan Fedotov and Mads Sogaard. His height also put him level with the tallest skaters to appear in the league, a rare physical distinction for a player making his first NHL start.
The circumstances were hardly gentle. Florida had lost 5-1 in Ottawa the previous night and was playing the second half of a back-to-back. Starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom was unavailable with an upper-body injury, creating an opening for Black after his recall from the Charlotte Checkers. Instead of a quiet debut, the rookie faced a desperate Pittsburgh team trying to stop a losing streak on home ice.
Black finished with 17 saves on 20 shots before Pittsburgh's empty-net goal. The box score shows three goals against, but the details resist a simplistic verdict on the rookie. Robertson found space on a rush, Lapierre was set up near the crease after a three-on-two break, and Malkin created a shooting lane through a defender. Those are demanding situations for any NHL goalie, particularly one learning the timing and deception of elite shooters in his first appearance.
His size will naturally attract attention, but height is not a substitute for reading a rush or adjusting to a late release. Black's debut offered an early lesson in the patience NHL forwards can show when they carry the puck into dangerous areas. It also gave Florida useful information about his response to pressure, something a training session or an AHL start cannot reproduce in exactly the same way.
Florida's larger concern was the lack of offense in front of him. The Panthers failed to score for the first time this season and were outscored 9-1 across consecutive road defeats. Matthew Tkachuk and coach Paul Maurice expressed frustration with the team's overall performance after the loss. The Panthers have time to reset before visiting Chicago on Sunday, but a rookie goalie cannot fix poor starts, rushed puck decisions or an ineffective power play by himself.
Malkin and Lapierre supplied the depth Pittsburgh had been missing
The second goal was a reminder that Pittsburgh's offense does not have to run through one line. Malkin advanced the puck on a three-on-two rush and found Ville Koivunen, whose pass gave Lapierre the chance to finish from close range at 9:59 of the second period. It was a well-connected transition: one player carried the play forward, another moved the defense, and the third completed the move before Black could settle.
Malkin then took a turn as the scorer early in the third. At 1:40, he maneuvered past a diving Gustav Forsling and beat Black with a wrist shot. That made it 3-0 and effectively removed Florida's room for error. The veteran finished with a goal and an assist, while Lapierre also posted a goal and an assist. Alongside Robertson's two goals, those contributions gave Pittsburgh several ways to create offense instead of relying exclusively on Sidney Crosby to decide the game.
The performance was particularly welcome because the Penguins have been managing a difficult personnel stretch. Young forward Ben Kindel had suffered a medical episode aboard the team plane earlier in the week and was placed on injured reserve after returning to Pittsburgh. General manager Kyle Dubas indicated that he could resume practicing as early as the following week after additional testing. Egor Chinakhov was also a late scratch against Florida with a lower-body issue, leaving the forward group short of another option.
Those absences do not make the win more valuable in the standings, but they change what the coaches can learn from it. When available players accept different roles and the puck moves cleanly between lines, Pittsburgh becomes harder to defend. The three-on-two goal showed that the team can still manufacture quality without every preferred forward in uniform.
Next comes Nashville at home on Saturday, October 24. The test is not whether Silovs can record another shutout or Robertson can score twice again. It is whether Pittsburgh can repeat the smaller habits: get back into defensive lanes, deny clean special-teams chances, finish shifts with controlled exits and make its transition opportunities count. One win ends a streak; a second disciplined performance begins to change the direction of a season.
Pittsburgh's 4-0 win delivered two very different goalie stories. Silovs left with a 26-save shutout and evidence that the Penguins can still defend as a unit. Black left with a league record and a difficult but valuable first look at NHL competition. Neither result should be stretched into a season-long verdict.
For the Penguins, the next step is repeating the discipline that allowed Robertson, Malkin and Lapierre to decide the game. For Florida, it is giving its goaltenders more support and finding an answer to a scoreless power play. The scoreboard was emphatic. The lasting lesson will depend on what both teams do next.
