Arturs Silovs made 22 saves for his second shutout of the season as the host Pittsburgh Penguins cruised to a 5-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday afternoon.
It was the second career shutout in 47 career starts for Silovs. Bryan Rust, Ben Kindel and Justin Brazeau each had a goal and an assist, Erik Karlsson had two assists and Egor Chinakhov and Rickard Rakell also scored goals for Pittsburgh, which improved to 10-1-3 since Jan. 13.
Adin Hill finished with 17 saves for Vegas, which lost its second straight game.
Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead at the 14:56 mark of the first period when Kindel’s wrist shot from the high slot beat Hill on his blocker side.
The Penguins made it 2-0 early in the second period when Chinakhov snapped a quick wrist shot from the right circle past Hill’s blocker side and off the far left post and in. The score came six seconds after a Pittsburgh power play following a Mitch Marner tripping penalty had expired.
Pittsburgh then extended its lead to 4-0 later in the period with a pair of power play goals. Rust got the first, scooping up a loose puck in the slot after Jeremy Lauzon blocked Karlsson’s point shot and then roofing a shot past Hill’s glove side. It was the 20th goal of the season for Rust, marking the seventh consecutive season he has hit the 20-goal mark.
Rakell followed at the 15:06 mark, tapping in a rebound of another Karlsson point shot.
Brazeau made it 5-0 with 5:01 remaining in the game when he beat Hill on his blocker side with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle through traffic
Vegas forward Mark Stone left the game near the end of the first period and didn’t return after defenseman Kris Letang gave him a seemingly harmless shove to his upper left arm with his stick in the neutral zone. Stone went down to one knee and then immediately skated to the locker room.
