Merilainen will tend the twine for Thursday's home matchup with Washington, Graeme Nichols of The Hockey News reports.
Merilainen will make his fourth consecutive start after posting an impressive 3-0-0 record, 0.67 GAA and two shutouts in his previous three tilts. With the 22-year-old backstop going Thursday, the team could decide to give Anton Forsberg the first game of a back-to-back against the Bruins on Saturday while saving Merilainen to face New Jersey on Sunday. Either way, Merilainen should continue to see plenty of starts moving forward given his strong level of play.