TAKEAWAYS: Ottawa Senators get goalie boost from Leevi Merilainen and tame Wild

Published Dec 29, 2024  •  2 minute read

Ottawa Senators defenceman Thomas Chabot and centre Josh Norris maneuver the puck while Minnesota Wild defenceman Brock Faber pressures them during the first period of an NHL game Dec. 29, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. Photo by Ellen Schmidt /The Associated Press

With a little luck on his side, Leevi Merilainen gave the Ottawa Senators the goaltending boost they needed Sunday.

The Senators, playing their sixth straight game on the road, beat the Minnesota Wild 3-1 in their final game of 2024.

It was a very good effort from the Senators.

The Senators decided to go with Merilainen, a third-round draft pick in 2020, after Mads Sogaard allowed a couple of soft goals in a 4-2 loss in Winnipeg Saturday.

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The luck? The Wild hit three goalposts and a crossbar. If any of those had gone in, it could have changed the tone of the game. But Merilainen came up big when he had to.

The Senators don’t know when they’ll get starting goalie Linus Ullmark, who hasn’t played since his back tightened up a week ago, back in the lineup.

The Wild were without star winger Kirill Kaprizov, who sat out with a lower-body injury. With 50 points in 34 games, he’s tied with Mitch Marner for sixth in the NHL scoring race, two points behind Connor McDavid.

Minnesota opened the scoring when a shot by defenceman Declan Chisholm was deflected into the net by Frederick Gaudreau with 2:41 left in the first period.

The Senators came out flying in the second period, firing 10 shots in the goal in the first five minutes.

The hard work paid off. The Senators tied it 1:47 into the second period when Ridly Greig, parked just to the right of Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson, jammed the puck into the open side after a favourable bounce off the end boards.

The Wild hit two goalposts during a power play near the mid-point of the period.

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Near the mid-point of the third, Merilainen made a big pad save with the Wild on a 2-on-1 while short-handed after a tripping penalty to Zach Bogosian.

With the Wild penalized again, a one-timer by Josh Norris gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead with 7:18 left.

An empty-net goal by Claude Giroux with 44 seconds left sealed the deal.

BLURRED LINES

Senators coach Travis Green threw his lines in a blender to start Sunday’s game.

And, he sat defenceman Jacob Bernard-Docker.

Adam Gaudette was elevated from the fourth line to play on a line with Drake Batherson and Tim Stutzle. Captain Brady Tkachuk played alongside Ridly Greig and centre Shane Pinto. Josh Norris was at centre between Nick Cousins and Claude Giroux. Zack Ostapchuk played between Cole Reinhardt and Noah Gregor.

Nikolas Mantinpolo replaced Bernard-Docker in the third defence pairing, alongside Tyler Kleven.

A ROAD WELL-TRAVELLED

The Senators are now six games into their lengthy nine-game road swing that takes them into January.

After opening with three wins, the Senators lost two before winning Sunday.

Still to go: Games in Dallas (Jan. 2), St. Louis (Jan. 3) and Detroit (Jan. 7). Ottawa’s next home game is Jan. 9 vs. Buffalo.

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X: @TimCBaines

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