The Abbotsford Canucks’ 2-0 shutout victory over the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Friday night advanced them to the third round of the Calder Cup playoffs.
While there were many contributions from numerous players, especially the depth coming up and producing for some of the injured players, there may be no bigger story than Canucks goaltender Arturs Silovs.
The 2-0 shutout victory marks Silovs’s second closing game shutout in as many rounds, as he also shut out the Tucson Roadrunners in Game 3 of the opening round series with a 5-0 victory.
The Canucks dominated the close out game against the Roadrunners, outshooting them 20-5 in the first period. But Silovs still had to come up big and stopped all 21 shots he faced. It was a different feel for Game 4 against Coachella. The Canucks opened the scoring in the first period, but the game stayed that way throughout until the final few minutes of the third period. Silovs responded to the pressure and stopped all 29 shots he faced against the Firebirds.
Regardless of the moment, Silovs seems to step up in the big moments.
“It’s just being high on an emotional level, you know?” Silovs said. “It’s so much fun to play at this moment of the year. And with how important every game is, the different styles of the game, you want to put everything on the line. You work the whole summer, the whole season, just for these moments.”
Canucks fans saw it first hand in Vancouver last season, where he ran away with the crease in the playoffs, even earning Silovs a shutout in the series-clinching Game 6 against the Nashville Predators. It’s easy for a team to build off the momentum if their goaltender in front of them is leading by example, which is noticed by his head coach:
“When he plays with confidence, it just goes through the whole group,” Malhotra said. “So when we know that he’s feeling it and he’s comfortable and confident back in his net, we’re able to play our game. Obviously, we want to limit the number of quality chances that other teams are getting, but when they do get those looks, he’s been standing tall and doing a good job.”
Teammate Max Sasson had high praise for his netminder post game, making sure to highlight Silovs as his biggest takeaway from the team’s shutout win:
“Probably the biggest takeaway is Arturs Silovs. I mean, how much can you say about that guy? Every single time it’s a big moment, it seems like he steps up and plays his best game. We’re so confident playing in front of him, and we know we might only need a couple of goals when he’s on to win a game. And yeah, just really proud of everyone, and especially Arty Party.”
There was a minor speed bump in this series for Silovs. After allowing one goal in Game 1, Silovs allowed three first period goals and did not lead his team out for the second period. While there were questions on who Malhotra would ride with for Game 3, he trusted his starting goaltender to bounce back. And that he did.
It’s easy to get discouraged after getting pulled in a playoff game, but Silovs didn’t let a few bad bounces get in the way of his confidence:
“Game 2 was just a few lucky bounces. [The puck] hits our D-man and ends up in the net. Like, you don’t really care about those kinds of nights, you know? Like you can’t really do anything about it. It was just like puck luck, you know? But yeah, bounce back for the third and fourth game, both wins. So that’s what matters.”
Silovs left the interview crediting the fans and how ruckus the crowd was, which helped build momentum for him and the team en route to their series-clinching victory:
“I think tonight was probably the most people I’ve ever seen [in the crowd]. It was great morale sport, especially the first period starts, and I saw the full crowd, the towels; you feel the energy from the crowd. We throw a couple of big hits; the crowd is cheering. You make a save; the crowd is cheering. It’s built up the momentum.”
Abbotsford now advances to the Pacific Division Finals for the first time in franchise history and will face the Colorado Eagles. Canucks fans will have an opportunity to set the tone and cheer on the Abbotsford Canucks next Friday, May 16 for Game 1.
