Last season, goaltender Leevi Merilainen turned into one of the top prospects in the NHL for the Ottawa Senators. In 12 NHL games, Merilainen was terrific with earning eight wins and finishing with a 1.99 goals against average and .925 save percentage. Merilainen also added three shutouts to go with his short but fantastic 12-game NHL season.
Merilainen was a key reason why the Senators didn't fall down in the standings and clinch a playoff spot last season after both Linus Ullmark and Anton Forsberg were injured in the Winter. This past off-season, Merilainen was a restricted free agent, but re-signed on a one-year contract.
Bigger expectations will be on Merilainen this season at 23 years old to grow more after the season he had in 2024-25 in both the NHL and AHL. However, Merilainen's recent play is one to be concerned about even though it is preseason.
Merilainen has struggled deeply in preseason after last night's brutal game
Merilainen started off the preseason strong with making 23 saves in the Senators' 3-2 overtime win on Sept. 23 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, the past two starts have been a concern from Merilainen.
This past Tuesday, Merilainen allowed in five goals in the Senators' 5-0 shutout loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Quebec City, Quebec. Merilainen got a chance to redeem himself tonight when he got the start again against the St. Louis Blues. However, it was another ugly start.
Merilainen allowed in six goals in the Senators' 7-1 loss to the Blues. Merilainen allowed in three goals each in the first period and second period.
In the first period, the Blues scored three goals in a span of 3:44. All three goals happened less than eight minutes into the game. The final two goals Merilainen allowed in the second period occured in a 27-second span.
After the back-to-back goals, Merilainen was pulled for Mads Sogaard. Merilainen finished with allowing in six goals on 19 shots on goal in 36:59.
The old saying of "it's preseason" may be said by some, but allowing in 11 goals combined in back-to-back starts can raise some concern with Merilainen.