Kirby Dach giving Canadiens what they need in playoff-style games

This was Kirby Dach doing exactly what the Montreal Canadiens needed from him, driving the net they hadn’t previously established enough of a presence in front of, scoring a goal to give them a lead in a building they hadn’t won in since 2011, and showing what he can bring in a playoff simulation.

That Dach did it for a third straight game of this nature provided the type of valuable information that Canadiens president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton and general manager Kent Hughes need ahead of the March 6 trade deadline. 

They acquired Dach at the 2022 Draft because they believed he could fill out that six-foot-four frame and fulfill the potential he showed to be taken third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019. They hoped he’d become a top-six forward, and they were willing to wait for him to develop into one.

What neither Gorton nor Hughes signed up for, though, was Dach going through a rash of devastating injuries that put all that into question. 

After consecutive seasons cut drastically short by reconstructive knee surgery—and after a broken foot stole away positive momentum he had built up through the first 14 games of this season—Dach has recently been put to the test in a way he hadn’t been through any other portion of his time with the Canadiens.

It started with their 4-3 win over the Wild on Jan. 20. And by the end of their 4-3 overtime loss in Minnesota on Monday, Dach had shown enough for Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis to affirm, “He’s giving us good hockey.” 

“You look at the stat sheet, and you can measure that,” said St. Louis to reporters at Grand Casino Arena. “But I find he’s giving us good hockey on things that are maybe difficult to measure.”

Dach did a number of them against the Wild 13 days ago. And though he lagged slightly in games against the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins that directly followed, he started to gain steam at the start of the most important sequence of the season to date—with the Canadiens trying to keep pace with the top teams in the Atlantic Division while aiming to establish a winning record against the best teams in the league in the chase to the Olympic break.

Dach played hard and heavy from the fourth line in wins over the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche last week, with a goal, an assist and a plus-three rating against the league-leading Avalanche as a reward for his efforts. 

But to see the 25-year-old build on those performances in the two hardest games of the season—to see him come up with decisive plays from the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield—was to know there’s still hope he can play to the high potential he once held.

In a 4-2 win in Buffalo Saturday, Dach was doing exactly what he needed to do throughout the night, with his play to set up what turned out to be the deciding goal serving as the perfect example of it.

Dach won his corner battle on a hard forecheck, pitched-forked the puck free, and made a quick pass to Suzuki, who gave it to Caufield to finish. His timing was perfect, and his commitment to the dirty work Suzuki and Caufield need from a linemate was unwavering. 

Dach made one of the biggest plays of the season in the biggest game to date, and Dach’s drive down the gut of the ice 12 seconds into the third in Minnesota was another one.

It helped the Canadiens earn a point against the Wild. 

It was a point that kept them ahead of the Sabres in the standings. And if they want to build on that lead with a win over the Winnipeg Jets Wednesday, they’ll need more contributions from Dach.

With time and space as sparse as they’ve been all season, and with the officials pocketing their whistles, he pressed and pushed until he scored against the Wild. In a matchup against arguably the toughest shutdown line in the league—Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson—Dach held his own. And if the Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., native can keep doing that against top competition in playoff-style games from here to the deadline, it’ll reassure Gorton and Hughes.

They may not view Dach as a long-term solution with Suzuki and Caufield, no matter how well he plays in the four games before we get there, but he could render the need for a top-six forward far less desperate.

And if the Canadiens acquire a better option for Suzuki and Caufield, the jam Dach is playing with can fill another need lower down the lineup.

Either way, he’s proving useful. 

And it looks like Dach’s game is revving up.

“I’ve felt confident,” he said. “I think it’s just about making sure I’m checking off all the little details in my game and doing what the team needs of me in that given moment.”