The Senators have lost three straight games since sending their hottest goalie, Leevi Merilainen, back to AHL Belleville.
In the classic baseball movie, Bull Durham, veteran catcher Crash Davis (played by Kevin Costner) famously tells rookie pitcher Ebby ‘Nuke’ Laloosh (Tim Robbins) that you "Never f--- with a winning streak" because they simply don't come around that often.
It's fair for Ottawa Senators fans to wonder if the club messed with a good thing last week when they sent 22-year-old goaltender Leevi Merilainen to the minors.
Merilainen came up as an injury replacement and played 12 games in Ottawa, posting a 1.99 GAA, a .925 save percentage, and three shutouts – four if you only count regulation time. So, every three games, he held the opposition to zero goals in regulation, and the Sens were 8-3-1 in games the young Finn started.
With the recent return of Linus Ullmark from a month-and-a-half-long back injury, the Sens had to decide last week what to do with one of their three goalies. It came down to keeping all three, or sending either Merilainen or Anton Forsberg down to Belleville.
They decided three's a crowd, and since Merilainen wouldn't have to go through waivers, he was the one chosen for demotion, less than 24 hours after he and the Sens shut out the Minnesota Wild, 6-0, for their fifth straight win.
Since then, the Senators have gone 0-3, and as we approach the 10th anniversary of rookie Andrew Hammond and the Hamburglar Run, it feels like they may have just stomped out the potential for another magical freshman heater.
That's not to say the Sens can't heat up again after the break, and no one is suggesting that Merilainen is a can't-miss superstar. We just don't know. What we do know is that Merilainen has kept the puck out of the net better than the two goalies who got to stay, and the Sens had a .708 points percentage in the dozen games he played.
In fairness, the Sens have had so many issues with goalie injuries that they felt they had to protect their organization depth at the position. But they certainly could have kept all three goalies in Ottawa for a little while longer until they were sure Merilainen's magic had run out.
This is also a city known as the not-so-proud home of the goalie graveyard, and it's a team in a seven-year playoff drought. Now they suddenly have this kid in the middle of something special – temporary or not – and they send him down? The smart play would have been to see where it takes them and ride the streak for as long as it lasts.
Imagine if the Sens had sent the Hamburglar down to the minors right in the middle of his magical 2015 run? Imagine if Curtis Lazar never got a chance to pound post-game burgers?
Father Muldoon would not have been pleased with any of it.
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This article is from The Hockey News-Ottawa. For more great Ottawa Senators coverage, check out THN.com/Ottawa or leave a comment below at Senators Roundtable.