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Roster Changes | Habs Notepad

Chris G
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Roster Changes | Habs Notepad
Owen Beck, Montreal Canadiens (Photo by André Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)

Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Martin St. Louis, Owen Beck, Laval Rocket, Trois-Rivieres Lions

Owen Beck, Montreal Canadiens (Photo by André Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — The Montreal Canadiens were at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Saturday to face the Senators. After a scoreless 20 minutes, the Senators took over with the three goals in the second period. Ottawa added two more in the final period and limited Montreal to four shots as they headed to 5-0 victory. It was the fourth time that the Canadiens were shutout this season.

“I liked all our game besides in the third period when we had trouble hitting the net. We had to kill a penalty, we had a power play where we lacked execution and weren’t able to get in their zone. Our intentions were good. I would have liked to get more shots in the third period. Besides that, it wasn’t a game that I hated,” coach Martin St. Louis said.

“I think they played a good defensive game. We generated chances but sometimes we weren’t able to get the shots through. They made some big blocks,” defenceman David Savard said.

“In the second period, we had a couple of penalty kills and we lost momentum. They were opportunistic on their chances and I think that cost us the game,” added Rafael Harvey-Pinard.

Beck NHL Debut

On Friday, the Canadiens announced the recall of forward Owen Beck on an emergency basis from the OHL’s Peterborough Petes. The 18-year old received the news earlier in the day from Petes’ coach Rob Wilson and general manager Michael Oke.

“Just this month with two call ups, 2023 is off to a pretty good start for me,” Beck said in the morning about his stint with Team Canada and joining the Canadiens. “It’s pretty crazy everything that’s happened in the past 365 days. I still feel that I haven’t had enough time to sit back and process it all. It’s pretty special and it’s something I’ll never forget.” 

Beck was Montreal’s second round draft pick in the most recent draft and left a good impression at training camp. He was one of the final cuts and already knew most of the players when he entered the dressing room on Saturday. When he got word of the recall, captain Nick Suzuki invited Beck to join him and a few teammates for dinner.

Beck finished with 9:48 of ice time and was slotted on a line with Christian Dvorak and Jesse Ylonen. “I felt my experience from pre-season helped me slow the game down and not panic with the puck.”

“I think he played well. He looked very comfortable on the ice. I’m proud of him and it’s promsing,” St. Louis evaluated. “He’s a hockey player. We also saw it at training camp and the kid has a good future.”

Beck returned to Peterborough after the game and was in the lineup for the Petes game on Sunday against the Hamilton Bulldogs. He finished the afternoon with one assist.

Potential Recall

With Beck returning to the OHL, the Canadiens currently have 11 forwards and seven defencemen available for Tuesday’s rematch against the Senators. Joel Armia and Jonathan Drouin were previously ruled out until the All-Star break and Sean Monahan stopped practising with the team.

There are several options available for St. Louis for the final game before the Canadiens bye week. St. Louis can return to using seven defencemen, or recall a player from Laval or from the CHL. With Laval returning home from their road trip, in my opinion, it is more likely that a player from the Rocket would be called up if required.

When asked to explain the reason of Beck’s recall on Saturday, St. Louis answered that it was a management decision. On Friday, Suzuki, Dvorak and Kirby Dach did not practice to receive treatments. Beck could have been a safety net in case one of them was not available to play.

Rocket Collecting Points

The Laval Rocket were in Cleveland to face the Monsters for a pair of games over the weekend. Overtime was needed to settle Friday’s game and the Monsters scored the winning goal with under a minute remaining for the 3-2 victory.

“I think we gave one chance on five-on-five in the third period. We played well defensively and they managed to scored a goal to tie it. After a long trip like that, we would have liked to get the extra point, but we had to find a way to win in overtime,” coach Jean-Francois Houle said.

On Saturday, the Rocket took a 3-0 lead with three power play goals. Laval kept the lead for the balance game and headed to 7-4 victory. Lucas Condotta recorded his first career AHL hat trick in the victory.

“We came out strong and our power play produced early on in the first period. They made a push to try to come back into the game but we held on,” Houle said. The win extended Laval’s point streak to seven games.

The Rocket continue their four-game road trip on Friday in Toronto against the Marlies.

(Quotes courtesy of BPM Sports)

Lions Collapse

The Trois-Rivieres Lions were in Adirondack over the weekend to face the Thunder in a three-game series. On Friday, the Lions took a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes and held on to win 4-2 and snap the eight-game losing streak. Joe Vrbetic made 29 saves in the victory.

“This victory is good for everyone’s morale. We played well. The guys were responsible and they blocked a lot of shots. The penalty kill was excellent as was our goalie. We had the right recipe for success and we were more opportunistic,” interim coach and general manager Marc-Andre Bergeron said.

On Saturday, Trois-Rivieres had 3-2 lead midway through the second period before Adirondack bounced back with three unanswered goals to win 5-3.

“We made more turnovers than the first game, which gave the opposition more life than we would have liked. On the other hand, we still had a solid performance with a lot of chances to score. We even had the lead. We just let this game slip away,” Bergeron said.

On Sunday, the score was 2-2 with two minutes remaining in the second period when Adirondack broke the tie. The Thunder added another four goals in the third to win 7-3.

“The third goal they scored took away our energy. We had just tied the game 2-2 and we had rhythm. After that goal, both individually and in terms of team structure, we really weren’t playing well. The wheels fell off,” Bergeron said about the collapse.

The Lions begin a three-game series on the road against Norfolk on Wednesday.

(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)

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By Chris G., Senior Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
Copyright © 2022 Rocket Sports

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