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

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).