Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators Postgame: Merilainen Shines, Offense is Shutout
The Ottawa Senators held up quite well against one of the best teams in the league. They played strong defensive hockey, but couldn’t score on their chances. In the end, they settled for one point in the overtime loss.

The good news is the Ottawa Senators have the hottest young goalie in the league. The bad news is their offense couldn’t even give him one goal tonight, as the Senators fell to the Washington Capitals, 1-0 in overtime. It was Ovechkin ending things off the rush in overtime, inching even closer to the all-time goal scoring record. As for the Senators, it might be time to admit that they have a goal scoring problem. Let’s dive into the details.
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Merilainen Shines Yet Again
Had the Senators provided any type of goal scoring tonight, we’d be looking at Merilainen’s third shutout in his last four starts. He made 27 saves, continuing to look calm and collected throughout the game. His best save came in overtime on a breakaway by Tom Wilson. It should also be mentioned that the Capitals came into the game second in the league with 3.61 goals per game. Needless to say, Merilainen needs to remain with the Senators for the foreseeable future. The only problem tonight was that he was going against a goalie on the other side who is equally as hot. Logan Thompson now has back-to-back shutouts and has given up just one goal in his last three games.
Goal Scoring Woes
Here’s how the year started: 9 games, 4.22 goals per game (3rd best in the NHL)
Here’s what’s happened since: 35 games, 2.46 goal per game (last in the NHL)
Add it all up and the Sens rank 23rd in the NHL with just 2.82 goals per game. They have the 30th most goals at five on five with just 73. They have no players at a point per game anymore. Excluding empty netters, they have scored two goals or less in nine of their last 11 games. It’s great to see the Senators pride themselves with their defensive play, but they need to score more than this if they want to make the playoffs. It’s time to work into those dirty areas and score some greasy goals. Also, Tim Stützle should shoot more. He’s scoring on 16% of his shots but averages just two shots per game. That’s not enough for a guy who has the puck on his stick as much as Stützle does.
Additional Notes
Congrats to Donovan Sebrango, playing his first ever NHL game! The Ottawa native seemed like a throw-in when the Senators made the Alex Debrincat trade with the Red Wings. He spent parts of his last two seasons in the ECHL. This season, though, something has clicked for him. He looked good in the preseason, and he’s continued to play well in the AHL. He was solid tonight in his 11:38 of ice-time. It was nice to see Amadio back in the lineup, but of course, Chabot wasn’t able to play. One player in, one player out is how it seems to be going for Ottawa lately. In Chabot’s absence, Kleven stepped up, playing almost 22 minutes of rock solid hockey.