‘Embarrassed’ Jake Sanderson apologized to Leevi Merilainen for postgame comments

A player is walking back his comments regarding one of his teammates.

On Tuesday, Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson told the media that he had apologized to goaltender Leevi Meriläinen for his remarks following a 6-5 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

“First off, I’m pretty embarrassed,” Sanderson stated. “I think that’s a situation where, after a game, you’ve got to take a few more minutes. Take a few deep breaths. I talked to Leevi…and apologized. I still feel really bad. Leevi’s a great guy… that’s not what good teammates do. You don’t tear each other down. You build each other up, especially after a game like that.”

Following the defeat on home ice to the team’s border rival, Sanderson was asked about goaltender Leevi Meriläinen’s play. It’s safe to say the American blueliner was blunt about his feelings.

“I think Leevi made some good saves,” Sanderson said. “But I think, at the end of the day, you’ve got to make more than 10 saves to win a game.”

The quote led to immediate backlash, especially since captain Brady Tkachuk was coming to Meriläinen’s aid after the tough loss, in which Ottawa blew a 5-3 lead in the third period.

Since then, the Senators elected to make a change in their goaltending situation. With veteran James Reimer remaining with the big club, Ottawa loaned Meriläinen to its American Hockey League affiliate, the Belleville Senators, while calling up fellow netminder Hunter Shepard.

Meriläinen had been struggling prior to the demotion. With Linus Ullmark still on leave from the team, the Finnish netminder started 11 consecutive games over the past few weeks. During that span, Meriläinen went 4-5-1, giving up three-or-more goals in all but one of those games.

The Senators (23-19-7) are last in the Atlantic Division, five points back of the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.