by After his impressive 25-save performance in Sunday’s 2-1 win in New Jersey, Anton Forsberg isn’t making the Senators’ upcoming goaltending decision any easier.
After being out of action for almost a month due to a back injury, goalkeeper Linus Ullmark seems ready to return to the team soon. At this point, the Senators have three goalkeepers available in Anton Forsberg and Leevi Merilainen.
Just this: There is no room on the bench for two substitute goalkeepers.
In Ullmark’s absence, Merilainen performed exceptionally well, posting a record of 4-0-1 in his last five games. In three of those starts he allowed zero goals in regular time. In his last start, a 6-5 shootout win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon, he made some big saves, but there were also a few moments of fallibility.
Merilainen put in a remarkable performance and definitely outperformed Forsberg. However, this is a small sample size. Sens fans remember 2015 when Andrew Hammond looked like a godsend at goaltending with a 20-1-2 record and a .941 save percentage at the end of that season. But as history now shows, Hamburger wasn’t nearly as good as he seemed that spring and would play just 42 NHL games over the next seven seasons.
On Sunday in New Jersey, Forsberg, who has two shutouts this season, reminded Sens fans that he, too, can play. Since the Sens were outscored 16-2 by the Devils in the first half, they could have been ejected, but Forsberg prevailed with a 2-1 road win. He has been Ottawa’s best player in two of his last three starts.
If Ullmark returns, the Sens could try to send Forsberg to Belleville, but they would first have to risk losing him to waivers. And if Forsberg were suddenly claimed and gone, it would trigger a flood of “what ifs,” and the Sens might not have the depth to handle Forsberg’s loss.
That would leave the Sens with Ullmark and Leevi Merilainen as a one-two punch, which would be a formidable duo based on their recent play. But what if Ullmark was injured again? At this point, after the season he’s had, that would hardly be a surprise.
If Forsberg were lost to waivers, the Sens would have to lean on Belleville. With both Mads Sogaard and Malcom Subban injured, they could choose either Michael Simpson or Mark Sinclair as their new NHL backup, but that’s not really an option. These two have barely any AHL experience, let alone NHL history.
And what if Merilainen goes off the rails, as is sometimes the case with young players? Things could quickly get tight here.
So if Ullmark gets healthy again, the best answer is to take inspiration from the Philadelphia Flyers and field three goaltenders. Their play could make the Senators’ decisions for them, for better or worse. More importantly, the Sens must now do everything they can to protect their goaltending.
Once they’re confident that Merilainen is the real deal, or their insurance policies in Belleville get healthy, the Sens will be in a better position to make the right decision on Forsberg, who is a UFA player at the end of the season.
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