Jake Sanderson Can’t Hold Back Frustration Over Senators’ Goaltending Woes

Frustrations are boiling over in the nation’s capital. Just one week after GM Steve Staios was forced to step in and shut down online rumors surrounding Linus Ullmark and his team, tension around the Ottawa Senators’ goaltending situation remains high.

While Ullmark has rejoined the team and begun to practice, he’s yet to make his way back into game action, which has forced Leevi Merilainen into an extremely heavy workload of late—and it showed on Saturday night. Merilainen struggled mightily, allowing six goals on just 19 shots in a 6–5 overtime loss to Montreal, a game Ottawa largely controlled and certainly should have come away from with two points.

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Instead, it was a gut-wrenching divisional loss for a team fighting just to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff race, and superstar defenseman Jake Sanderson didn’t sugarcoat things when asked about Merilainen’s performance postgame.

Sanderson said:

“I think Leevi made some good saves. But I think, at the end of the day, you’ve got to make more than 10 saves to win a game.”

Merilainen was officially credited with 13 saves—not 10, though you can understand Sanderson’s frustration, especially after he turned in a brilliant performance with four points (one goal, three assists). To put into perspective just how bad Ottawa’s goaltending has been this season, according to Money Puck, the Sens have the lowest expected goals against in the NHL at 77.4, yet have allowed the 11th most goals in the league with 103.

The 23-year-old Sanderson is having a spectacular season, having tallied 39 points (10 goals, 29 assists) in 47 games played thus far. He’s in year two of the eight-year, $64.4 million extension he signed with the Senators back in 2023.

Ottawa Needs Linus Ullmark Back

It’s not going out on a limb to say the Senators desperately need Ullmark back between the pipes—and for him to play up to his $8.25 million contract once he returns, because even when available, it just hasn’t been good enough.

Ullmark has had a tumultuous last few weeks, though he appears to be inching closer to a return, as head coach Travis Green revealed after Saturday’s game that the 2022–23 Vezina Trophy winner is expected to join the team on its upcoming three-game road trip.

The margin for error in Ottawa is razor-thin for the rest of the season if they hope to make the playoffs for a second straight year. So while the Senators will be thrilled to have their No. 1 goalie back, there will be big-time pressure on him to perform at the level he’s paid to.

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