Ottawa Senators goaltender Leevi Merilainen (1) makes a save while taking on the Boston Bruins during third period NHL hockey action in Ottawa on Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press) What makes Leevi Meriläinen so impressive? Is it his nonchalant attitude that, at the end of the day, being an NHL goalie is just his job? Is it his ability to ensure his movements stay crisp, ergonomic, and technical? Or is it that he’s a

So far in 2025-26, the name of the game in Ottawa has been “steady as she goes.” Nothing about the team’s record jumps off of the page. The offense is 10th in the NHL, scoring 3.25 goals per game. The defence is performing slightly worse, giving up 3.35 goals against per game. Likely, this is explained by the team’s subpar save percentage (.868%), which is still lagging behind the league average (.891%) in spite of recent solid performance by Linus Ullmark and Leevi Meriläine

Ottawa Senators Tim Stutzle (18) celebrates his goal against the Boston Bruins during third period NHL hockey action in Ottawa on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press) In last week’s blog post , we lamented the lack of offensive firepower this Senators team seemed to show in the absence of captain Brady Tkachuk. Evidently, Tim Stützle took that personally.  Stützle, who is wearing an ‘A’ on his jersey with Tkachuk and