Senators blank Canadiens 5-0 in Owen Beck’s NHL debut

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Owen Beck was supposed to go out for dinner with his father Saturday night.

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He had to cancel those plans — but with good reason.

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On Friday evening, the Canadiens called up Beck from the junior Peterborough Petes on an emergency basis because they have nine players on the injured list. Beck, selected by the Canadiens in the second round (33rd overall) of last year’s draft, made his NHL debut Saturday night in Ottawa against the Senators.

It was a night Beck will never forget — including the standard solo rookie lap during the pre-game warmup — even though the Canadiens lost 5-0.

Claude Giroux scored twice for the Senators, while Alex DeBrincat, Mathieu Joseph and Derick Brassard added singles. The first three goals came in the second period against goalie Samuel Montembeault before Joseph scored an empty-netter with 1:26 left in the third period. Brassard scored the final goal with 48 seconds left on the clock and Montembeault back in the net.

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The Canadiens were shut out for the fourth time this season while getting outshot 36-28 and going 0-for-3 on the power play. The Canadiens were outshot 11-4 in the third period.

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The Senators improved their record to 23-23-3 after beating the Maple Leafs 6-2 Friday night in Toronto while the Canadiens were resting in Ottawa. The Canadiens remain in last place in the Atlantic Division with a 20-26-4 record. They had a chance to move within one point of Ottawa with a regulation-time win, but instead fell five points behind the Senators, which will help the Canadiens when it comes to the lottery for this year’s NHL draft.

While en route from Peterborough to Ottawa on Friday night, Beck received a text from Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, inviting him out to dinner along with five other teammates once he arrived in the nation’s capital.

“I knew he was coming in kind of late in the evening, so we just wanted to get him out for dinner and just get comfortable with the guys again,” Suzuki told reporters in Ottawa after Saturday’s morning skate. “He had a pretty long (training) camp with us, so he knew most of them. But I missed most of camp (with an injury) so I didn’t really get the opportunity to be around him. So it was nice to sit with him at dinner. We had a good night.”

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Beck played at center on a line with Christian Dvorak and Jesse Ylönen. Beck logged 9:16 of ice time, had no shots on goal and won one of the three faceoffs he took while finishing minus-1.

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Beck became the second 18-year-old to play for the Canadiens this season, along with Juraj Slafkovsky, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s NHL draft who is now on the injured list. The last time the Canadiens had two 18-year-olds play in the same season was 1984-85 with Stéphane Richer and Petr Svoboda.

Beck had an impressive training camp with the Canadiens before the start of this season, earning a three-year, NHL entry-level contract that included a US$95,000 signing bonus before being returned to junior.

“He was playing really well (during the pre-season),” Suzuki said. “He almost made our team…he was one of the later cuts. I know he’s been having a pretty good junior season and, hopefully, he’ll have a big run in the OHL. It’s exciting for him and his family to come here for his first NHL game.”

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Beck had more than 20 family members and friends at Saturday’s game, including his parents — Dave and Tanya — and his older brother, Brendan. Beck’s parents were wearing matching red Canadiens sweaters with his new no. 62. Beck, who wore no. 16 with the Petes, is only the fourth player in Canadiens history to wear No. 62 After Duncan Milroy (2007), Frédéric St. Denis (2012) and Arthur Lehkonen (2017-22).

The NHL rules regarding emergency call-ups will allow Beck to play no more than five games with the Canadiens and he is not allowed to miss more than one game with Peterborough. The Petes play their next two games Sunday and Thursday, so Beck could play again for the Canadiens on Tuesday night when the Senators will visit the Bell Center before being returned to his junior team.

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This was the second unexpected call-up this month for Beck. On New Year’s Day, he was called up by Team Canada for the world junior championship after an injury to Colton Dach, the brother of the Canadiens’ Kirby Dach. Beck played in the quarter-final, semifinal and final game for Team Canada, which won the gold medal.

“Just this month with the two call-ups, 2023 is off to a pretty good start for me,” Beck told reporters in Ottawa after Saturday’s morning skate. “It’s pretty crazy everything that’s happened in the past 365 days. I still feel like I haven’t had enough time to sit back and process it all. It’s pretty special.

“It’s something I’ll never forget.”

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