Penguins lose in shootout, but Arturs Silovs and Ryan Graves help them secure a point vs. Devils

Matt Vensel, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Nov 8, 2025

Published in Hockey

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The Penguins outplayed the New Jersey Devils in Saturday’s matchup between the top two teams in the Metropolitan Division, but they still needed a strong showing from Arturs Silovs and a rare goal from Ryan Graves just to get the game to overtime.

Once it went into a shootout, the writing was on the wall for the visiting Penguins.

They lost, 2-1, to the Devils at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The disappointing outcome dropped both Silovs and the Penguins to 0-3 in shootouts on the season.

With Saturday’s win, the Devils claimed sole possession of first place in the Metro.

The Penguins spent much of the first period inside Devils territory. But they were unable to beat Jake Allen and then they watched the Devils take a 1-0 lead with 48 seconds left in the first. Arseny Gritsyuk picked off Kris Letang’s blind backhand pass in front of the Penguins’ net and skated in alone to beat the flat-footed Silovs.

Graves tied the score, 1-1, midway through the second period. His blast from the point hit a defender and redirected past Allen, who never saw Graves’ shot coming.

That was a big goal for Graves — and it came against one of his former teams, too.

The veteran began the season in the minor leagues after other blue-liners beat him out in camp. Instead of pouting, Graves went to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and earned positive reviews for his attitude and steady play. He got the call back to Pittsburgh earlier in the week and has been solid overall in his first two games this season.

The Devils looked poised to retake the lead late in the second period when Silovs made a sprawling save, one that will go down as one of the NHL’s best of the year.

After another turnover in front of his net, Silovs shuffled twice and threw his glove up to rob Jack Hughes. The Devils star was left staring down at his skates in disbelief.

Silovs made 22 saves in regulation, including a close one on Dawson Mercer in the final seconds of the third period, to get the game into overtime and secure a point.

Allen stuffed Ben Kindel and Bryan Rust during overtime to send it to a shootout.

It was over when ...

Well, it was probably over once this game went into a shootout, given how poorly Silovs has performed in those. But it became official when Paul Cotter and Jesper Bratt beat Silovs, then Allen lifted his left pad to deny Sidney Crosby’s do-or-die try.

Stat of the game

1 — shootout save for Silovs this season in eight total shootout attempts faced

Around the boards

— Harrison Brunicke was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game and for a fifth time in the last two weeks. The rookie defenseman is still sitting on nine NHL games. With Brunicke out, Graves and Connor Clifton were Pittsburgh’s third pair.

— Rookie forward Ville Koivunen had a great opportunity to finally get his first NHL goal in the first period but he fired the puck into Allen’s glove. Moments later, New Jersey took a 1-0 lead. Koivunen, 22, has played 17 career games without scoring a goal.

— Kevin Hayes made his season debut. He missed the team’s first 15 games after he suffered an upper-body injury in a collision with Graves on the first day of training camp. Hayes centered the third line, with Koivunen and Danton Heinen on his wings.

— With Hayes in uniform, Pittsburgh made Philip Tomasino a healthy scratch again.

— Anthony Mantha dropped the gloves with Brenden Dillon in the first period after the Devils defenseman leveled Tommy Novak with a hit at the Pittsburgh blue line.

— For the first time this season, coach Dan Muse and the Penguins started a goalie two games in a row. Silovs was back in net after beating Washington at home on Thursday. He played well in regulation but lost for the fourth time in his last five starts.

— Since Silovs started Saturday’s game at New Jersey, rookie goalie Sergei Murashov is expected to start in goal Sunday at home. It will be the 21-year-old’s NHL debut.

Coming up next

The Penguins will be back on the ice Sunday at PPG Paints Arena, hosting the Los Angeles Kings in the second half of their back-to-back. The puck will drop at 2 p.m.