Up 2-1 in the second period and outshooting the Buffalo Sabres 19-4, goalie Leevi Merilainen went to the stop the puck behind the Ottawa Senators net. He failed to communicate with defenseman Jake Sanderson. Sabres Ryan McLeod pounced on the puck netting a shorthanded marker to tie. And then it was mainly downhill from there.
The Sabres scored four unanswered goals in total to tilt the game in their direction heading into the third period. Shane Pinto and Lars Eller got the Senators to within one 2:15 into the final frame. However, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff called timeout. McLeod tallied 17 seconds later and the Sabres ran with it the rest of the way, defeating the Senators 8-4.
The Good
Playing in only his second game, Jordan Spence registered three assists and was a plus-three. Added in the offseason to add offense to the Senators blue line, Spence gave a glimpse of what he can do Wednesday evening.
Heading into the game. Tim Stützle recorded 12 shots on goal, but was yet to dent the net. Stützle posted nine shot attempts, four on goal, and notched his first of the season, redirecting Zetterlund’s shot.
Shane Pinto continues to shine notching his fifth goal in four games.
The Senators continued their domination in the dots, winning 37 of 57 draws, 65%. The team ranks no.1 league-wide in faceoff percentage at 65.3%
The Bad
The bad started prior to the game when the Florida Panthers claimed Senators rookie left-shot D Donovan Sebrango off waivers.
Sebrango was a victim of a numbers game after filling in for the injured Tyler Kleven. The Senators wanted the 23-year-old to see more ice time in Belleville and preferred not to carry eight defensemen on the roster. Unfortunately, it came down to timing as the Panthers sought a replacement for their injured d-man Dmitry Kulikov. Panthers general manager Bill Zito had a first-hand view of Sebrango in Florida Saturday and took a flyer on the youngster. Losing Sebrango leaves the organization with Jorian Donovan and Tomas Hamara the only true remaining left-shots at the American League level and it could be considered a rare miss by Senators GM Steve Staios who did not sneak Ottawa resident through waivers during training camp.
The Senators have been scored on first in each of their four games. Playing from behind in every game isn’t a recipe for success.
The Senators penalty kill remains abysmal. The team has now allowed a whopping eight power play goals in 15 kills. Per Sportsnet Stats; the eight PP tallies are the most the Senators have given up over their first four games of any season.
While it was preseason, Leevi Merilainen didn’t display the confidence he had in 2024-25 campaign where he posted a 1.99 goals against average, three shutouts, .925 save percentage in only 12 games. Merilainen allowed 13 goals in only three outings resulting in a 5.69 GAA, .806 Sv Pct.
His first start of the 2025-26 season turned out to be Merilainen’s worst in his 15-game NHL career to date. The 23-year-old yielded seven goals on only 26 Sabres’ shots.
Senators Notes
Senators owner Michael Andlauer confirmed Brady Tkachuk was undergoing evaluation in New York City for a second opinion on his hand/wrist injury sustained Monday. Andlauer was also in NYC attending the NHL Board of Governors meeting.
The belief is if surgery is required, Tkachuk could miss eight to 10 weeks rather than the minimum of four weeks stated by Senators head coach Travis Green Tuesday.
The Senators debuted their alternate sweaters in Buffalo and will don them once again at home versus the Seattle Kraken Thursday.
