The Ottawa Senators put their three-game winning streak on the line Saturday night, hosting the best road team in the NHL.
The Minnesota Wild, also on a three-game heater, have gone 20-5-3 away from home this season. Leevi Merilainen will get the start in goal for Ottawa, while the Wild go with Filip Gustavsson.
Gustavsson returns to Canadian Tire Centre, his former NHL home, enjoying a bounce-back season with the Wild. Gus has 20 wins so far, matching his total from last season. His .914 save percentage is also 15 points better than last year.
Every start Merilainen gets this season is valuable, and this one may be his last for a while. Linus Ullmark is now fully participating in practice, so his return from a bad back is imminent. The Sens goalie depth has been tested all year at all levels, so the last thing they want to do is lose a goalie. With three of them soon to be healthy, Merilainen is the only Senators goalie who can head to Belleville without having to go through waivers.
Merilainen has had a strong season, posting a 2.19 goals-against average, a .921 save percentage, and a 7-3-1 record. He’s seemingly passed both Mads Sogaard and Anton Forsberg on the depth chart.
Back in 2020-21, Gustavsson turned heads in Ottawa in similar fashion. He played nine games for the Senators that season, going 5-1-2 with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage. That had fans thinking that maybe Gus the Bus, and not the struggling Matt Murray, might be Craig Anderson’s heir apparent.
But Gustavsson dropped off the map the following year. He played twice as many games, posting a 3.55 goals-against average, an .892 save percentage, and a 5-12-1 record. So, the Sens traded him to Minnesota for Cam Talbot, who they let walk into free agency after one season.
Gustavsson and Merilainen are two completely different goalies who were on two very different Senators teams. But as the Sens try to figure out their three-headed monster in goal right now, it’s a good reminder that they can’t necessarily count on Merilainen to be elite again next season just because he’s been outstanding this year in the short term.
That’s a lesson Sens fans learned well after the Hamburglar Run.
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