Silovs, Martin stand tall between the pipes
Tell us if you’ve heard this before, but the Canucks once again had to rely on their goaltending last night.
As previously mentioned, the road game was a bit of a wash, with the Flames putting star players such as Jonathan Huberdeau, Tyler Toffoli and Mackenzie Weegar up against Collin Delia and Michael DiPietro.
It was a little easier at Rogers Arena, especially given the roster construction, but that still didn’t mean Spencer Martin and Arturs Silovs weren’t put to work.
Martin did show signs of rust throughout the first two periods, allowing the first goal in the opening eight minutes, while also failing to find his post en route to the second tally.
Fortunately for his squad, however, the 27-year-old still managed to come up with big saves when Calgary continued to apply the pressure, turning aside 23 of 25 shots before Silovs came in for relief in the third period.
Silovs also impressed in his preseason debut, putting up 20 saves before eventually surrendering the overtime winner to Michael Stone.
The Canucks were outshot 45-28 on home ice, with both netminders putting up over .920 SV% performances.
Despite the third period heroics, however, it is expected that Silovs will start the season in Abbotsford, making way for Martin to fill the back-up role behind Thatcher Demko.
Regardless of who ends up behind Demko, however, it’s safe to say that goaltending will be the least of Vancouver’s concerns for the upcoming campaign.