The big offseason story for the Vancouver Canucks organization so far is the stunning play of their AHL affiliates, the Abbotsford Canucks, led by rookie head coach and NHL job finalist Manny Malhotra.
With a 5-0 win over the Colorado Eagles in Game 5 Monday night, Malhotra and his Canucks are through to the Western Conference Final, where the Texas Stars await them. Game 1 will be played at Abbotsford Centre at 7 p.m. Thursday night.
But the star of the show thus far? That's none other than Arturs Silovs, who's posted a shutout in three elimination games already during this Calder Cup run. The 24-year-old Latvian earned his first clean sheet of the postseason on April 26, making 21 saves in a 5-0 plastering of the Tucson Roadrunners to secure the 2-1 series win.
On May 9, in Game 4 against the Coachella Valley Firebirds, Silovs again rose to the occasion, stopping all 29 shots he faced to power the Canucks to a pivotal 2-0 win.
And, of course, after starting the series against the Eagles with a 22-save shutout in Game 1, Silovs got up to his shenanigans again, making an astounding 34 saves to blank Colorado 5-0 in Game 5 to clinch a berth in the Western Conference Final.
On the heels of the performance, Silovs is now 8-3-0 in the AHL playoffs, boasting an outstanding 1.73 GAA, a .936 save percentage, and, of course, four shutouts.
Silovs also got a bit of retribution against the Eagles, who posted "Bye bye Silovs" on X after their 3-1 win over the Canucks on Friday night. It's probably safe to say that one backfired.
If the Canucks are to defeat the Stars and make a run at the Calder Cup, they'll need Silovs to continue playing out of his skin for a few more weeks.