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Canadiens: 24 Thoughts on Owen Beck and Team Canada's Tournament Opening Win vs Finland

By Ryan Praught |
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Owen Beck and Team Canada opened their World Juniors in Gothenburg versus Team Finland in their first of four round-robin games. Expectations are as high as ever for Canada, with back-to-back gold medals to defend and no home ice this time around. And Finland is no easy opponent to open up the tournament.

As for Beck, he is the only returning member for Team Canada after joining the squad late last year as an injury replacement. He may be centring the “fourth line,” but he is wearing an A for a reason. He’ll play a significant role for the Canadians at this tournament, a role he’ll also potentially play for the Canadiens in the NHL someday.

Having watched it live from Gothenburg, here are 24 thoughts on Beck and Team Canada’s first game of the World Juniors.

First Period Thoughts

Canada started the game down a man pretty quickly as Beck took a boarding penalty. It's not the kind of start you want to have, especially against a good Finland squad. Discipline will be key, especially in the IIHF, where the whistles are usually a little tighter. Beck unfortunately learned that the hard way, but I can’t fault him for trying to set the tone on his first shift.

Canada is already down two defensemen after Tanner Molendyk (NSH) and Tristan Luneau (ANA) both had to leave the roster with injuries. Jorian Donovan (OTT) and Ty Nelson (SEA) were added to the roster to replace them. Defence already looks like it won’t be a strength for this team, and losing Luneau and Molendyk hurts.

Speaking of which, the defence looked pretty suspect when Lenni Hämeenaho (NJD) walked through the defence with a nifty move, with his backhander just wide. I had a great angle of it from my seat; Jake Furlong (SJS) is still looking for his jockstrap. Canada can’t afford to give up many chances like that.

I found the ice wasn’t very good in this game, particularly early on. Players were slipping, the puck was bouncing like crazy, and it seemed to settle down a little, but it definitely played a role in the game. It created a 2-on-0 for Finland that forced Mathis Rousseau to make a tremendous stop. The defender slipped, and it quickly became a disaster for Canada, before Rousseau bailed him out.

Goaltending has been a question mark for Canada far too often for quite some time. Usually, they figure it out, but not until the tournament begins. There is always a concern, with there seldomly ever being a clear-cut number one. Aside from that save, Rousseau had a quiet first period, but that sensational save definitely silenced some doubters.

He’s not playing much, but Macklin Celebrini looks like a first overall calibre player. The puck just follows him, and the skill is clearly there. He’ll likely play his way into a top-six role when it’s all said and done.

Owen Beck and the “fourth line” open the scoring for Canada, as Nate Danielson (DET) has the puck deflect off him into the net. This line only played about three minutes in the first, but it was a noticeable three minutes.

Second Period Thoughts

This is a much sloppier second period from Canada, with plenty of turnovers and miscues. They’re chasing the play a lot, except for whenever Beck and the “fourth line” are on the ice. I keep putting that in quotes because they hardly look like Canada’s worst line.

The Finns clearly smell blood in the water as they start the second period, generating a ton of chances. Easton Cowan (TOR) takes a bad offensive zone penalty that gives the Finns a powerplay, but Beck and Canada manage to kill it off. Beck looks comfortable defending on the PK, and the coaches clearly trust him in that role.

The “fourth line” does it again; this time, it’s Owen Allard who doubles Canada’s lead. Beck doesn’t register a point on the play, but it’s another shift where his line controls the play. They’ve been money all game long. Danielson, with a nice pass to Allard to set the goal up.

Another top-six forward takes yet another penalty, and this time it leads to a goal for Finland. The discipline is just not where it needs to be. Too many needless penalties from guys with sticks where they shouldn’t be. Luckily, the PK has been good enough so far, but you’re playing with fire the longer it continues.

I have to say, nobody in the top six has been particularly impressive. They’ve spent a lot of time in their own zone, and they haven’t had many moments that suggest they will carry the offensive load. It’s only been 40 minutes of a seven-game tournament, but it’s left something to be desired.

Beck makes a nice pass to Denton Mateychuk (CBJ), who makes a sensational move to get around the defender and slide a pass across to Danielson. But the Finnish defenceman makes a great play to block the pass into the corner before Danielson could tap the puck in. Mateychuk is a defenseman, but it was all started by a nice rush from Beck, and the fourth line nearly struck again.

They’ve been far and away Canada’s best line. Not only are they playing well individually, but the trio of Beck, Danielson and Allard look very comfortable alongside one another. Not an easy thing to do having just been put together earlier this month.

Canada ends the second period with a slim 2-1 lead and will need a strong third to close this one out. Finland pushed back in the second, but Rousseau held his ground to keep his team in front. The only goal he allowed was off a nice deflection in front by Aleksanteri Kaskimäki (STL).

Third Period Thoughts

22 seconds into the third, Canada sees yet another top-six forward make his way to the penalty box; this time, it’s the captain Fraser Minten (TOR) for tripping. Once again, Canada kills it off.

Celebrini continues his strong game after a lengthy review finds the puck crossed the line. It’s his first of many, I’m sure. He was very good in this game but didn’t play a lot. He was on the top powerplay unit, but Canada only got two opportunities tonight.

Two more penalties from the top-six. I know I sound like a broken record, but man is this insane. Not only have they played a mundane game at best, but they’ve actively hurt their team more than helped it. Beck makes some really sound plays on the PK, showing off his awareness to be in the right position to help Canada preserve the 3-1 lead.

Matthew Poitras (BOS) adds an empty netter to get his line on the stat sheet in a positive way. Canada will need more than this moving forward though. I expected more from Poitras, who has played the entire season thus far in the NHL. We’ll see if he can find his footing in the next game.

Finland and Canada trade late goals, and the game ends in a 5-2 win for Canada. It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but the first games of the tournament rarely are. Remember, Canada lost their tournament opener to Czechia last year, 5-2. So, a win over Finland is a much better start to this year.

Speaking of Czechia, Filip Mešár and Slovakia wied the floor with them today, with a 6-2 win. Mešár had two assists, with the second one being particularly pretty. Meanwhile, Lane Hutson added an assist in the US’s 4-1 victory over Norway.

Beck only played 12 minutes in tonight’s win over Finland, but he won 80% of his face-offs and was an impact player for Canada. Danielson took home player of the game honours for his two-point effort.

Beck’s line was definitely Canada’s best, so hopefully, Beck can keep that momentum going tomorrow versus Latvia. Canada will definitely want to see more from their top-six in that one, too.

All in all, it was a good day for Canadiens prospects at the World Juniors.

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