Leevi Merilainen had a brutal start to the season when he allowed in seven goals in his season debut on Oct. 15 against the Buffalo Sabres. Since then, Merilainen has been better with winning his last three starts.
Last night, Merilainen made 18 saves to help the Senators earn a pivotal 5-3 win against the Boston Bruins. The win snapped the Bruins' seven-game winning streak and also improved the Senators to 9-5-4 overall this season. The Senators currently sit in second place in the Atlantic Division.
Tomorrow night, the Senators host the Los Angeles Kings to conclude a four-game home stand. Based on recent play and the schedule ahead, starting Merilainen against the Kings can make sense for head coach Travis Green.
Merilainen starting against Kings may be ideal
After tomorrow night's game against the Kings, the Senators will begin a seven-game road trip. Having Linus Ullmark get enough rest will be pivotal for the road trip.
That can be why starting Merilainen against the Kings tomorrow night may be ideal for Green. Along with the schedule ahead, Merilainen has been much better as of late.
Next eight games on Senators schedule:
Tomorrow vs Los Angeles Kings
Nov. 20 @ Anaheim Ducks
Nov. 22 @ San Jose Sharks
Nov. 24 @ Los Angeles Kings
Nov. 26 @ Vegas Golden Knights
Nov. 28 @ St. Louis Blues
Nov. 30 @ Dallas Stars
Dec. 2 @ Montreal Canadiens
As of now, four of the seven teams the Senators have on their schedule over the next eight games would be in the 2026 playoffs if the season ended today. Even though the Sharks, Golden Knights and Blues aren't in a current playoff position, they will be tough games on the road. The Sharks and Golden Knights may not be in a playoff spot, but they both are over .500, unlike the Blues.
An idea is to give Ullmark enough rest for the big games on the road trip. The good thing for the Senators is that there are no back-to-backs on the schedule for the road trip. The first game of the road trip against the Ducks could offer as the first game that Ullmark could start. The Ducks have been arguably the biggest surprise this season with leading the Pacific Division with 23 points. Having your number one goaltender well rested to take on a division-leading team is pivotal.
Even with rough stats, Ullmark is still the Senators' number one goaltender on the depth chart. So far, Ullmark has started 14 of the Senators' 18 games this season. Ullmark has a 3.21 GAA and .870 save percentage. While Merilainen's GAA and save percentage are worse than Ullmark's, it's because of his one bad start against the Sabres.
Since then, Merilainen has been solid with winning his last three starts. Two of his three wins were against the Bruins, who are currently in third place in the Atlantic Division. Merilainen's other win was this past Sunday against the Utah Mammoth, who are the Western Conference's first Wild Card.
Riding your hot goaltender is something some coaches do. For the Senators, it's something for Green to consider by starting Merilainen tomorrow night against the Kings.
Neither Merilainen nor Ullmark started against the Kings last season. Both games started against the Kings were by Anton Forsberg. However, Mads Sogaard relieved Forsberg in one of the games after allowing in three goals early into the game.