Yahoo Sports Ottawa Senators Now Rolling Without A Healthy Third-String Goalie On An NHL Contract
The Ottawa Senators' NHL goaltending tandem is showing signs of a turnaround this season, and Sens fans would want us to knock on wood as we write that. However, things aren't going well down on the farm.
They seemed to be all set with two solid AHL goalies in Mads Sogaard and Leevi Merilainen. Both have NHL experience in case something happens in Ottawa. Now, after injuries to both of them, Ottawa's minor league insurance policies are Malcolm Subban and Michael Simpson.
That means that after Linus Ullmark and Anton Forsberg, the Sens don't have a healthy third-string goalie who's on an NHL contract. If needed, it's an easy fix. According to PuckPedia.com, the Sens have room to add three more NHL contracts, but they'd obviously prefer not to.
Subban has 87 NHL appearances and was signed to an AHL deal two weeks ago after an injury to Sogaard that will force him to miss significant time. Simpson, who starred for the London Knights of the OHL, is also on an AHL deal and was called up over the weekend after the injury to Merilainen on Friday night.
"Leevi tweaked something in the first period and was seen by the trainers," Belleville head coach David Bell said. "Then it just got worse on a save there in the third. So it was smart of him to come out of the game so it doesn't get worse. But I haven't seen him yet, so we'll see what happens tomorrow."
What happened was Simpson's recall from Orlando, where they were sad to see him go. He posted a 2-1 record with a ridiculous 1.01 goals-against average and a .963 save percentage.
There's no word yet on how long Merilainen will be out.
Read more Ottawa Senators coverage at The Hockey News Ottawa.
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