Thursday night saw yet another overtime game for the Montreal Canadiens, succumbing this time to the New Jersey Devils 4-3 and remaining unbeaten in regulation through their last five games. It was a tight contest, with perhaps a few missed opportunities to secure the second point in the standings, but they remain among the best teams in the Eastern Conference in part due to picking up these spare points by getting to overtime.
The standings are certainly encouraging, and more so are the early returns from Kirby Dach, who is playing some of the best hockey we’ve seen from him in the Tricolore.
Now this one is straight from the hockey gods.
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) November 7, 2025
Kirby Dach ties the game for the #Habs pic.twitter.com/AuKgvt6KZo
It must be acknowledged that the above goal took a certain amount of puck luck, and possibly divine intervention from the hockey gods. Still, Dach is getting these kinds of bounces right now as a byproduct of good positioning, and use of his large frame to take space in front of the net. We saw flashes of this player in his injury-shortened 2024-25 campaign, but he wasn’t able to play like this consistently.
He’s playing physically. He’s going into the corners with purpose, and causing real headaches for his opposition in the process. He’s not throwing pucks into space like he was last season, he’s making very deliberate, calculated moves that allow his line to establish offensive-zone presences. He may only have six points to date, but the way he’s playing is conducive to further production that will come if he keeps doing what he’s doing.
His line with Brendan Gallagher and Zachary Bolduc has developed into an extremely competent middle-six trio, capable of providing some secondary scoring in big moments. The way Dach is driving that line right now, it would be tough to break them up, but one can be forgiven for at least wondering if Dach should be given the benefit of Ivan Demidov’s skill on the wing at some point, at least on a trial basis.
Whatever they decide to do lineup-wise, Dach’s early-season performance has been extremely encouraging, and the team will want to see that sustained. He will too, given that this is a contract year for him, and his next deal will be heavily dependent on what he accomplishes this season.
Staying healthy is another battle that he’ll need to win, but if he can do that and keep playing the way he is right now, we could be talking about the comeback player of the year for this team when all is said and done.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back on Saturday night, when the Habs will be back at the Bell Centre to host the Utah Mammoth.
