In this week’s edition of Overreacting to Small Sample Sizes, is Leevi Meriläinen the next great Vancouver Canucks goaltender?
Canucks fans have only had Meriläinen for five games, but they’ve quickly grown as attached to him as Rosa Diaz to Arlo. It’s understandable: he’s legitimately been very good, especially in comparison to Kevin Lankinen, who has repeatedly been lit up by opposing forwards early in the season.
Meriläinen was stellar once again on Tuesday night, standing on his proverbial head to keep the Canucks in a game in which they were badly outshot and outchanced. He took away what appeared to be sure goals multiple times.
“He kept us in it,” said Brock Boeser. “He made some saves for us in the second that allowed us to get back into the game, that was huge.”
The 24-year-old goaltender made 18 saves in the third period alone to give his teammates a chance to push the game to overtime, even if they couldn’t quite get it there.
“[Meriläinen was] outstanding for us,” said head coach Manny Malhotra. “He made all the saves we expected him to make, and then he had a couple of ten-bellers that energized the guys and gave us a lot of confidence. He did an outstanding job tonight.”
It’s obviously far too early to say that Meriläinen is going to be a number-one goaltender in the NHL, let alone a great one, but he’s definitely looking like a savvy pickup off the waiver wire.
If Meriläinen keeps playing this well, I expect Kevin Lankinen to be watching a lot of games from the bench, much like how I watched this game.
- While Meriläinen was the Canucks’ best player, it was another strong night for Elias “D-Petey” Pettersson. He stepped into a top-pairing role alongside Filip Hronek and more than held his own. It’s night and day from how he performed under Adam Foote last season.
- Sometimes, you’ve just got to enjoy the silly things, like three Islanders players falling to the ice simultaneously, like they had coordinated it ahead of time.
Hockey is such a graceful, balletic sport. pic.twitter.com/gmrPGnzlkJ
— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis) October 14, 2026
- Malhotra switched up the lineup, changing not only the defence pairings but also the power play. Jonathan Lekkerimäki got the promotion to PP1 in place of Marco Rossi, and it nearly paid off immediately. Elias Pettersson connected with Lekkerimäki on a cross-ice pass, and the young sniper ripped a wristshot off the crossbar, centimetres from opening the scoring.
- Meriläinen looked nigh-unbeatable for most of the first period. He came up with an enormous save on Victor Eklund, getting just enough of the puck to send it off the post and out. He got helped out a little by Eklund shooting the puck back into his body, but he still took away what looked to be a sure goal.
Glad we got a replay of Meriläinen's robbery of Eklund. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/jvBIEK9j7c
— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis) October 14, 2026
- “Nigh-unbeatable” doesn’t mean “unbeatable,” though. Not long after Meriläinen’s save on Eklund, Liam Öhgren missed an opportunity to clear the puck along the boards, then Kyle Palmieri played the part of a skee-ball ramp for Matt Kessel’s point shot. The puck lofted up over Meriläinen’s shoulder and into the 100-point chute.
The #Canucks simply haven't been good enough at making sure the puck gets out over the blue line this season.
Palmieri opens the scoring on the odd tip. Might have hit Willander's stick first. pic.twitter.com/L8KmagH7AK
— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis) October 14, 2026
- Getting the puck out proved to be a problem for the Canucks in this one, with Zeev Buium coughing up a turnover a minute later to hand the Islanders another goal. Matthew Schaefer picked off Buium’s breakout pass and set up Matias Maccelli, who stutter-stepped to the outside past a flat-footed Luke Schenn and sent the puck into the top corner.
#Canucks don't clear the puck, Isles regain possession, and Matias Maccelli makes it 2-0 NYI pic.twitter.com/jUMfEeZVHD
— Lachlan Irvine (@LachInTheCrease) October 14, 2026
- I’m not saying Meriläinen is the next Roberto Luongo — good Lord, he definitely doesn’t need that kind of pressure — but his stretch to rob Brayden Schenn early in the second period looked Luongo-esque. There’s just something about the way he came across, falling flat on his belly to get the full split, that brought me back to the Canucks’ glory days.
Merläinen looking like a young Roberto Luongo to rob Schenn. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/0zjoqJ607i
— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis) October 14, 2026
- Max Sasson’s speed got the Canucks on the board midway through the second. Jamie Oleksiak sent the puck up the left side, and Arshdeep Bains gave it a light touch so it drifted into open space behind the Islanders’ defence. Sasson was first to the puck and, like John Patrick Mason, did not hesitate, immediately one-timing it past Ilya Sorokin.
Speed kills. Great hustle by Sasson to win the race to the loose puck, and his release is as quick as his feet. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/AeOphddeK2
— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis) October 14, 2026
- Late in the second, like an artist who only illustrates numbers divisible by two, the Canucks drew even. I stretched to make that joke in honour of how much Meriläinen had to stretch to make saves in this game.
- On the power play, Elias Pettersson first sent a one-timer just wide, establishing the threat of his shot. A moment later, he faked the one-timer, instead deftly one-touching the puck to Brock Boeser in the bumper. Sorokin, needing to respect the one-timer, was a moment too late to react to Boeser’s shot just inside the far post.
Lovely touch by Elias Pettersson to fake the one-timer and put the puck in Brock Boeser's wheelhouse in the bumper.
Tie game. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/YQUOm8Ewuo
— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis) October 14, 2026
- With the goal, Boeser passed Todd Bertuzzi for sole possession of fifth all-time in power play goals for a Canuck. He’ll need another 18 goals to pass the next player on the list, Trevor Linden, then another 15 goals to pass one of the most underrated Canucks of all time, Tony Tanti.
- “It means a lot,” said Boeser when the milestone was brought to his attention. “This organization’s given me a lot and allowed me to live out my dream of playing in the NHL. It’s definitely an honour. I didn’t know that; thanks for telling me.”
- The Islanders got the game-winning goal by taking advantage of a Canucks icing to get a match-up they wanted, sending out the Horvat line against the Canucks’ third line and third pairing. While the Canucks pushed the puck up ice, they didn’t make a line change, as they were still pretty fresh. That might have been a mistake, as two of the Islanders’ goals came while the Horvat line was facing Drew O’Connor’s line.
- When the Islanders counter-attacked, the Canucks got caught scrambling in the defensive zone before Kyle Palmieri took advantage of a double Canucks screen. Meriläinen couldn’t see the shot coming through both O’Connor and Zeev Buium, who are incredibly opaque.
Kyle Palmieri has two goals on the night 😤 pic.twitter.com/LzZQ59PmPC
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 14, 2026
- It’s good to remember sometimes that Zeev Buium is still just 20 years old. The Canucks may have given him an eight-year contract and slapped an “A” on his chest, but he’s still very young for an NHL defenceman, and there are going to be some growing pains. It’s just that a lot of those pains have happened early in this current season.
- This was another banner night for NHL officiating. There were multiple hits from behind by the Islanders in the third period — on Linus Karlsson, Paul Cotter, and Liam Öhgren — that went uncalled. Then late in a one-goal game, they called a ticky-tack hooking penalty on Buium that wasn’t a hook at all, as he got all stick on a check.
- The penalty complicated the Canucks’ comeback attempt, but it gave Meriläinen a chance to make one more fantastic save, robbing Bo Horvat with the glove after a deflected pass. Meriläinen had the kind of night that would inspire Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
Yet another huge save by Meriläinen, robbing Horvat with the glove. He's been one of the big positives for the #Canucks in this one. pic.twitter.com/xsKY40bNy6
— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis) October 14, 2026
- The Canucks, to their credit, still pushed back hard, with Brock Boeser drawing a tripping penalty to turn the penalty kill into a 4-on-4. That allowed the Canucks to pull Meriläinen for the extra attacker and go for the tying goal with a typical power play setup at 5-on-4. Unfortunately, Marco Rossi proceeded to lose two faceoffs that allowed the Islanders to clear the puck and take time off the clock.
- They still came agonizingly close to getting the game-tying goal. Pettersson stepped in for the final faceoff and technically lost the draw, but he and Boeser still got ahold of the puck. Pettersson thought he had a second longer on the clock and set up Rossi, who roofed the puck past Sorokin just after the final horn.
Rossi scores what would have been the game-tying goal, but it's a second too late. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/rCbnvxLn4o
— Daniel Wagner (@passittobulis) October 14, 2026
- In a way, that’s the ideal finish for a tanking team. The players and fans still got a little dopamine rush — “We were this close!” — but didn’t gain any points in the standings. They’re creeping closer to the NHL basement, where everyone expected them to be.