Canadiens Pre Game
Canadiens Preview And Lines: Dach Injured, Beck Enters Lineup
The Montreal Canadiens (26-26-5) are set to host the Carolina Hurricanes (30-24-4), with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET.
There will be a new face in the lineup, or at the very least, a relatively new face, as forward Owen Beck was recalled from the Laval Rocket. He will replace Kirby Dach, who is unable to play due to a lower-body injury. Dach is in the midst of a difficult season that has led to just 10 goals and 12 assists in 57 games. Dach only played in two games last year, but his first year with the Habs did include 58 games in which he managed to produce 38 points.
As for Beck, despite a limited sample size, it’s quite evident that he quickly adapted to life in the NHL during his previous audition. His underlying numbers are quite good, which is a rare feat in the Canadiens lineup.
ON TOPIC: Prospect Owen Beck Gives Montreal Canadiens More Options
The Canadiens will look to build on the momentum they created on Saturday versus the Ottawa Senators. Juraj Slafkovsky enjoyed one of his best games of the year, ending the matchup one assist short of a Gordie Howe hat trick. His fight versus Ridly Greig wasn’t particularly great from a technical point of view, but it was certainly entertaining.
Samuel Montembeault stopped 25 of the 27 shots sent his way against Ottawa, emerging with a win in his first game back since the 4 Nations Faceoff. Montembeault did not play in the tournament, but the mere fact that he was picked to represent Canada was an impressive feather in his inspiring hockey journey cap.
This will be the first of three meetings between the Habs and the Hurricanes this season. Former Hab Jesperi Kotkaniemi will be in the Hurricanes lineup, but he’s unlikely to be given much ice time. Like every year, Kotkaniemi started on the right foot, but quickly faded away. He currently has just 11 goals and 15 assists in 57 games, and has been demoted to the team’s fourth line.
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
| Cole Caufield | Nick Suzuki | Juraj Slafkovsky |
| Joshua Roy | Alex Newhook | Patrik Laine |
| Brendan Gallagher | Christian Dvorak | Josh Anderson |
| Emil Heineman | Jake Evans | Joel Armia |
| Mike Matheson | Alexandre Carrier |
| Jayden Struble | Lane Hutson |
| Arber Xhekaj | David Savard |
| Samuel Montembeault |
| Jakub Dobes |
Carolina Hurricanes Projected Lineup
Hall – Aho – Blake
Svechnikov – Roslovic – Raantanen
Martinook – Staal – Jarvis
Robinson – Kotkaniemi – Jost
Slavin – Burns
Orlov – Chatfield
Gostisbehre – Walker
Andersen
How to Watch the Montreal Canadiens vs. the Carolina Hurricanes, Tuesday, February 25, 2025.
Game 58 of the regular season will be aired on RDS and TSN2. Once the game is over, an instant recap complete with highlights will be available on Montreal Hockey Now.
Thanks Marc. It will be interesting to see how Beck makes out on the second line. I would prefer to see him at Center but baby steps I guess. Dach should be a bit concerned about being Wally Pipped
It wouldn’t surprise me if Beck ends up taking some of the draws. Newhook struggles mightily in the faceoff circle, which isn’t the worst thing in the world if the possession numbers are positive, like Dach’s situation two years ago, but that’s not the case at all for Newhook.
Tough to see 4th liner KK with more points than 2nd liner Dach. I’m giving Dach pretty much a pass this season due to his injury, but it doesn’t make it easy to do when you compare those numbers right now. Gulp.
It would be one thing if Dach maintained good underlying numbers while struggling to score, but unfortunately, that part of his game collapsed too.
Could Newhook and Laine be pulling him down? How do their numbers compare to Dach? How are Dach’s numbers when he doesn’t play with one or both guys?
Very quickly (this is a good topic, I may look into it further).
All three together = terrible 5v5 results.
Newhook and Dach without Laine = slightly worse than when all three are together.
Newhook and Laine without Dach = actually decent numbers, but a negligible sample size.
Newhook without either Laine or Dach = very respectable numbers, over 50% possession.
Dach without both still has terrible stats, but slightly better than when all 3 player together.
Laine without both still has terrible stats, his 5v5 game is a mess, but we expected that.
So, you could argue that Laine and Dach are pulling Newhook down to a certain extent.
Thanks so much for doing all that research. 😁👍