Stop us if you’ve heard this before: the Ottawa Senators are having major goalie issues and don’t have a goaltender with a save percentage above .900. We are now into the second season with former Vezina winner Linus Ullmark and, like many fans, we can’t say we’ve loved what we’ve seen. After slow starts in both seasons, Ullmark’s play this year has not steadied enough to climb above a .900 save percentage, despite the team arguably being better than last season (looking at y

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