Canadiens: 24 Thoughts on Owen Beck and Canada's Trouncing of Latvia

Third Period Thoughts

Some good sustained pressure from the second line sees it translate into a goal for Fraser Minten (TOR). Those are the kind of shifts I expected to see, especially against an opponent like Latvia, that have been too infrequent. And it wasn’t just a good shift because they scored. They had sustained pressure, good movement and a better feel for each other out there. Minten, who had just stepped on the ice, was just the beneficiary.

Beck shows off his hands a little bit with a nifty deke between his legs before making a great centring pass, but his winger couldn’t finish. I noticed Beck showing off some of his hand-eye coordination in warmups, and he put some of it on display there.

Canada pulling away now, much to the crowd’s delight. Latvia played hard, but the floodgates have opened, and everyone is getting in on the action. Perhaps that will get everyone a little bit more confident heading into what will be a tougher matchup than expected versus Germany.

The Germans upset Finland earlier today and will take on Sweden tomorrow. That will be no cakewalk for Canada, and they will have to be on their toes. Finland was 25-0 against Germany at the WJC before today. So, anything can happen once the teams get onto the ice.

Canada wins this one 10-0 and are now 2-0. Beck finishes with no points but another strong game serving his role. He had a shorthanded breakaway in the third but couldn’t cash in. He’s playing well, even if he isn’t setting the scoresheet on fire like Filip Mešár is, who picked up his third point of the tournament earlier today in Slovakia’s 3-0 win over Switzerland.

I’ll be there in person on the 31st to watch Lane Hutson and the Americans take on Mešár and the Slovaks, so make sure to stay tuned for my thoughts on that game as well.

Macklin Celebrini wins player of the game for Canada, as he should have, picking up five points in the win. He now leads all players in the tournament with six points through two games. A really impressive showing so far from the draft-eligible prospect. We can only hope he doesn’t end up in Chicago alongside Connor Bedard.

I also want to give a quick shoutout to the arena DJ, who played a ton of Canadian classics for the mostly Canadian crowd tonight. The atmosphere was pretty special for a game played thousands of miles from home. It was a party all night long and the vibe here so far in Sweden has been amazing. I figured there would be many Canadians here, but I’ve been blown away by just how many have shown up. Anything for hockey, though.