Owen Beck versus the Carolina Hurricanes

Subsequently after announcing that Kirby Dach was injured, the Montreal Canadiens recalled centre Owen Beck from the Laval Rocket.

Soon after, it was announced that he would be in the lineup against the Carolina Hurricanes, which is obvious, or else why call him up? But at practice, Sportsnet's Eric Engels caught the line rushes at morning skate, and Beck was flanked by Alex Newhook and Patrik Laine. This is a massive opportunity for the 20-year-old, who is slotting into Dach's spot.

I expect that Beck's responsible two-way game and speedy skating will boost the line and a nice one-two with Newhook. Laine should benefit from the ice they open up, and slither in behind looking to strike. I think this line should be fun to watch, and I expect that Beck may surprise many with the increased ice time, and more talented linemates.

Beck and Newhook alone challenge the opposition with their footspeed, so together, while playmaking isn't their strong suit, I believe they will use the neutral zone as their freeway to create rush plays and challenge Carolina's defence with their speed. Beck is deserving of the callup, and the Canadiens are looking to start a win streak (2).

While Dach is out, the return of Emil Heineman and the recall of Beck leaves the Habs forward core looking a little younger. The impact that the younger players have on the lineup has been huge, and the biggest indicator is the trade talk about Jake Evans, Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak. If it holds any weight, a trade will only be made because of the emergence of guys like Heineman and Beck.

It's encouraging to see the young guys playing so well, and Martin St. Louis's approach - coaching to learn from mistakes and self-assess - players throughout the Rocket and Habs' rosters have got the message. Play to your strengths, and it has worked with guys like Jared Davidson and Florian Xhekaj.

If Marty is looking for a player to recall after the Trade Deadline, the two AHL forwards could have their names on a shortlist. Sean Farrell has also been impressive of late, which could put him on management's radar.

Onto the game

Jake Evans, Emil Heineman and Joel Armia start for Martin St Louis up front, and Abrer Xhekaj is paired with veteran David Savard.

With 13:50 remaining in the opening period, both teams have registered two shots on net, but nothing noteworthy has happened to this point.

Juraj Slafkovsky who was on a mission against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, was back to causing a ruckus with his strength. The Slovakian Olympian deflected a point shot from Jayden Struble. Nick Suzuki found Struble at the blueline and hit him with a nice feed before he fired the puck.

Slafkovsky parked himself on the top of the crease, established positioning and leaned on his opponent. With his stick free, he used his reach to catch the puck, and great hand-eye coordination to hit the puck. All-in-all his power-forward efforts have delivered early rewards against the Hurricanes.

If not for Taylor Hall's defending, Slafkovsky had a pass labelled for Nick Suzuki, but Hall broke it up. Then the puck came back to the Habs, who worked it down low before finding Mike Matheson at the point, who hammered a slapshot at Frederik Andersen, who was game to it, flashing his trapper.

Arber Xhekaj took a hooking penalty behind his net after he caught Seth Jarvis with his stick. The Canadiens killed the infraction, with Joel Armia and Jake Evans doing their best work. Samuel Montembeault has also been solid as a rock between the between the pipes - 5/5 with three minutes left in the first.

The newly put together Owen Beck, Patrik Laine and Alex Newhook line was next to make their mark. Newhook made a nice pass to Alexandre Carrier, who fired a perfect shot on the net, and Laine got his stick on the puck, and deflected it. Laine has his second goal in as many games, just like Slafkovsky.

Less than a minute after the Habs went up 2-0, Jalen Chatfield took a holding minor against Brendan Gallagher. The Habs are off to the power play for two minutes or less. Cole Caufield is one short of tying his career-high (28). He set the personal record in 2023-24.

The period comes to a finish with 18 seconds remaining on Chatfield's penalty.

After the referees missed a penalty for the Hurricanes, the puck circled around and Christian Dvorak drew a trippig penalty against Shayne Gostisbehere. And with 1:17 remaining on the penalty, Brent Burns caught Caufield with a high stick. The Habs have a five on three for 1:17, then a five on four for 43 seconds.

Unfortunately for the Canadiens, Carolina's penalty kill is fantastic, and destabilized the Habs number one unit.

10:56 remains on the clock, and the Canadiens have drawn another penalty - cross checking on Miiko Rantanen against Matheson. But the Canadiens are 0-3 and the Habs lost the faceoff to start the power play, losing control in the zone. Time dwindled to 1:20 before the Canadiens established possession in the attacking zone.

I think belief was starting to slip, and the captain came up clutch, with a beautiful snipe top corner short-side. Andersen's ear must be ringing, after Suzuki scored his 16th goal of the season. Laine has his seventh assist of the year, and Caufield his 24th.

It's kind of like the script flipped, generally, the Canadiens trail the Hurricanes, and take too many penalties to put together a momentum-building sequence. Tonight the Hurricanes are playing more like the Habs. Montreal has looked energetic since returning from the break.

Montreal leads 3-0, and the shots are 11-10 Carolina after 40 minutes of play.

The third period was just over three minutes old, and Arber Xhekaj took an interference penalty against Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Carolina is zero for one, and hoping to go to 50% tonight. Once again, however, Martin St Louis's two penalty-killing units put in work.

I won't say that Samuel Montembeault hasn't been tested, because the Hurricanes are making a push. But their 15 shots don't exactly leave anybody impressed. With 13:23 on the clock, it has been a quiet night shot-wise, but Montembeault has been solid.

Laine got his second assist, and third point of the game, when he found Hutson wide-open at the blueline. Hutson fired a harmless shot toward Andersen, and got lucky - finding the twine. The goal is Hutson's fourth of the season, and 43rd point in his 58th game.

The Canadiens are riding some kind of wave, to a 4-0 lead over the Hurricanes.

Beck has been all around the net, and he almost recorded an assist on a nice passing play, resulting in a Newhook shot. But it went into Andersen's chest, and he quickly covered it for the faceoff.

This is just the eighth game of Beck's career, and with a little more puck luck, he would have two or three points tonight. Beck is such a smart player, who thinks the way like a veteran two-way centre. It's hard to believe it when you watch him play, but he is a veteran of almost eight games.

Montembeault earned the shutout and his second win in as many games - it was a big night for Laine also, and Slafkovsky, Hutson and Matheson had strong outings.

Three stars: #3 - Patrik Laine - #2 - Samuel Montembeault - #1 - Nick Suzuki