Latvia’s Arturs Silovs to start against Germany
Latvia has announced that Arturs Silovs will be the starting goaltender for Saturday’s game against Germany.
Latvijas izlases vārtus pret Vāciju sargās Artūrs Šilovs. Harijs Vītoliņš pauda, ka tāds bijis arī sākotnējais plāns
Silovs gets the start after Elvis Merzlikins was the starter for Latvia’s 5-1 loss to the United States on Thursday. Merzlikins only played the first two periods of the game, allowing four goals on 32 shots before he was pulled, with Silovs playing the remaining period in relief, where he allowed one goal on six shots.
Latvian head coach Harijs Vitolins mentioned when announcing the starter for Friday’s game that this was the plan for how they would start their goaltenders in the preliminary round, which means it has nothing to do with Merzlikins getting pulled on Thursday. Latvia finishes the preliminary round with a game against Denmark on Sunday, so they needed to split their goalies anyways to not overwork either of them.
At this point in time, Merzlikins still appears to be the number one option for Latvia, considering he got the extra game against the United States. However, should Silovs perform well against Germany and Merzlikins struggle again against Denmark, Silovs may get the start for their playoff game.
Silovs has been solid in his first full-time season in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins, as he has an 11-7-8 record, an .896 save percentage, one shutout and a 4.82 5v5 goals saved above expected in 26 games.
Latvia currently sits in last place in Group C of the men’s Olympic ice hockey tournament after their loss to the United States, as their regulation loss ties them with Denmark, while a -4 goal differential puts them behind Denmark’s -2. With their tough game out of the way, Latvia will look to challenge for a higher seed against their two more equal opponents in the group, starting with Germany on Saturday at 6:10 a.m. ET.