Player News
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Merilainen stopped 12 of 14 shots in relief of Linus Ullmark (upper body) in Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Oilers. The Senators tied the game at 1-1 early in the second period, but Merilainen gave up goals to Zach Hyman and Adam Henrique en route to taking the loss in his relief appearance. With due respect to the 22-year-old Merilainen, Ullmark's injury has put the Senators' goaltending depth in a worst-case scenario -- Anton Forsberg (undisclosed) is also out, and the team is on its longest road trip of the season. Merilianen has given up six goals on 39 shots across his two appearances. If both Ullmark and Forsberg are unavailable when the Senators' schedule resumes Saturday in Winnipeg, Merilainen would temporarily take over as the No. 1 goalie, and Mads Sogaard would likely rise to the NHL to fill the backup role.
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Merilainen allowed four goals on 25 shots in Saturday's 5-4 overtime win over the Canucks. Merilainen allowed the Canucks to bounce back from three deficits but still came away with the win when Jake Sanderson scored 13 seconds into the extra session. Merilainen made his first NHL appearance since the 2022-23 season and earned his first career win. The 22-year-old has been backing up the red-hot Linus Ullmark since Anton Forsberg (undisclosed) went down with an injury last weekend. Don't expect Merilainen to get many starts, though he could make another appearance when the Senators resume playing after the holiday break in a road back-to-back against Winnipeg (Dec. 28) and Minnesota (Dec. 29).
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Merilainen will guard the road net Saturday against the Canucks, TSN 1200 Ottawa reports. It'll be the first start of the year for Merilainen. The 22-year-old netminder last appeared in the NHL in 2022, when he went 0-1-1 while stopping 43 of 49 shots across two games. Merilainen will be tasked with facing a Vancouver team that's averaging 3.09 goals per game this season.
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Merilainen was recalled from AHL Belleville on Sunday. Merilainen will accompany Ottawa on the team's four-game road trip before the holiday break. Anton Forsberg (undisclosed) didn't make his scheduled start against Pittsburgh on Saturday after suffering an injury while warming up for the game. With Forsberg staying behind for the trip, Linus Ullmark will likely see an increased workload.
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Merilainen was recalled from AHL Belleville on Tuesday to serve as the backup against Utah, TSN 1200 Ottawa reports. Merilainen's promotion comes as Anton Forsberg was confirmed as the starter Tuesday while Linus Ullmark (strain) remains on the shelf. With the team calling Ullmark day-to-day and no back-to-backs on the short-term schedule, Merilainen is unlikely to see any starts while up in the NHL.
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Career Stats
Year | GP | W | L | OTL | Min | GA | SO | GAA | PIM | FPTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 97 | 6 | 0 | 3.71 | 0 | 5.6 |
2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2022 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 85 | 6 | 0 | 4.24 | 0 | 2.6 |
3 Year Avg | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 43 | 3 | 0 | 4.19 | 0 | 1.4 |
Career | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 145 | 10 | 0 | 4.14 | 0 |