Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St-Louis confirmed this morning that Owen Beck would be sliding into the lineup on the second line. With Kirby Dach unable to play tonight because of a lower-body injury, the young centerman will have a big audition on Tuesday night.
While this is a fantastic opportunity for the youngster to show what he can do in such an important role, one can wonder if that’s not putting him in the “wrong chair.” After all, he’ll find himself in the top six for two reasons. Firstly, because that’s where Dach plays, but secondly, because St-Louis didn’t want to change his other lines.
That’s understandable, given that those lines allowed the Canadiens to go on a fantastic run at the start of the year. Had it not been for the freak accident that took Emil Heineman out of the lineup in Utah, who knows if he would have broken down those combinations?
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While the wheels didn’t come off the wagon until Kaiden Guhle was injured, it is evident that Heineman’s absence hurt the balance of the lineup and led to some defeats. Now that Dach has to sit out, why would he want to mess with the lines already working? Keeping Josh Anderson with Brendan Gallagher and Christian Dvorak makes sense. Leaving Heineman with Jake Evans and Joel Armia was a must, and the young Swede’s forechecking was a big part of their success. Asked about his fourth line, St-Louis said:
Emil came back, and I put them right back together. It allows me to return Andy with Dvo, Gally…Suzi, Slaf, and Cole. Now, Dacker doesn’t play tonight, but that line (Heineman-Evans-Armia) brings a lot of consistency. Can Patty, Beck, and Newie bring us some consistency tonight? When you know something’s working, it’s hard to be pushed in another direction.-
It will be interesting to see if Beck can raise his game to the level needed in an NHL top-six. In the AHL this season, he’s scored 13 goals and 19 assists for a total of 32 points in 47 games, which is hardly setting the league alight. It’s time for the youngster to seize this opportunity with both hands, to show that it’s not too much, too soon, and that he deserves “a seat” on the team next season.
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