Habs Daily: Beck Highlights, Roy’s Progress, Xhekaj’s Fight

Check out all the latest Montreal Canadiens news, highlights, and stories you may have missed this weekend.

Habs News

• Montreal Canadiens prospect Owen Beck continues his excellent play with his new OHL team, the Saginaw Spirit. He has 12 points in six games since joining the Memorial Cup hosts, including a two-point game against the Kingston Frontenacs on Sunday.

Parekh ➡️ Bloom ➡️ Beck

The @CanadiensMTL prospect finishes off the pretty passing play to give Saginaw a 4-2 lead heading into the third 📽️@SpiritHockey | #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/B104iKLoe1

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) January 21, 2024

• Top offensive prospect Joshua Roy did not stand out in his first two career NHL games, which is perfectly normal for a 20-year-old. But something changed in the last few Habs games. Roy has quickly established his offensive value. [Canadiens Joshua Roy Showing Encouraging Early Career Stats]

• The Laval Rocket and Belleville Senators do not like each other. There are always fireworks when the two teams get together, including a one-sided fight by defenceman Arbrer Xhekaj this weekend.   [GOTTA SEE IT: Arber Xhekaj’s Lively Fight In The AHL]
• The Montreal PWHL chapter lost to Toronto on Saturday, but not before Marie-Philip Poulin carved through an entire team to tie the game with less than 20 seconds to go.

Captain Clutch!

Marie-Philip Poulin scores with less than 20 seconds to go in the third to tie the game for Montreal. pic.twitter.com/1CAp2puzS6

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 21, 2024

• Former Canadiens goaltender Patrick Roy found a new job. He will serve as the head coach for the New York Islanders. [Former Canadiens Goaltender Patrick Roy Named Islanders Coach]
• Things went awry for the Habs during their weekend match-up with their longtime rivals, the Boston Bruins. And this time around, they weren’t saved by their goaltending. [Canadiens Can’t Keep Up With Bruins Forwards In Big Loss]

National Hockey Now Network

• Injured center Jack Hughes, who is scheduled to be the Devils’ lone representative at the NHL’s All-Star event in Toronto, might not play in the All-Star Game. However, he still could participate in the skills competition a day earlier. Hughes also may continue to miss time following the All-Star festivities. [New Jersey Devils]
• Things went haywire against the Wild with the Panthers allowing five power-play goals in six tries by Minnesota. For you folks who like math, that’s a paltry 16.7 percent success rate. So, what happened?  For starters, missing Sasha Barkov did not help. Barkov’s absence, however, was just as apparent in the forfeited scoring attempts he missed in the two-plus games. Anton Lundell is a versatile, hard-working center, he is not Barkov. [Florida Panthers]
• The Calgary Flames announced on Sunday that winger Dillon Dubé would be taking an indefinite leave of absence to attend to his mental health. [Calgary Flames]