How strong is the Senators’ goaltending duo?

After a promising outcome during the 2024-25 season, the Ottawa Senators are hoping to improve this year. The goaltending was a big part of the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but will it be the case again this year?

The Senators are off to a rather tough start this season, winning just one of their first four games. The team has conceded four goals in each contest, including eight against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night. That game was Leevi Meriläinen’s first game of the season, and he was lit up for seven goals on 26 shots.

Linus Ullmark hasn’t been great either, sitting with a 1-2-0 record with a 4.07 goals-against average and a .842 save percentage. If the Senators want to be a team that hangs with the best in the Atlantic Division, they need to have two reliable goaltenders on a nightly basis.

On Thursday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discuss how much concern there should be surrounding Ullmark and Meriläinen.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Linus Ullmark’s numbers…not great to start the season. What’s your concern there?

Carter Hutton: Not super high, I’m more concerned about sustainability if Leevi Meriläinen becomes a goalie you can’t play and becomes a factor in this team not being able to win on back-to-backs. Linus Ullmark, at his age now, you’re trying to monitor that. A guy that’s been known to have injuries, you have to be careful there. I think he gets to his game. I think he finds his game. It’s just a matter of the consistency of having both guys going. So, I rank that as a five…because I’m worried about them as a duo. I’m not worried about Linus finding his game…this guy’s played in all situations. I think with his maturity and his skill set, he’ll be fine. I worry about sustainability if Meriläinen can’t get his game together.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…