Montreal Canadiens center Kirby Dach has had some trying times from an individual point of view in this 2024-2025 season.
Limited to two goals and nine points and author of a minus-24 differential in his first 34 games, the 23-year-old center experienced one of his most accomplished performances in a while at Sunrise on Saturday.
Many will wish that CH’s big no. 77 had breathed new life into his campaign, as he doubled his goal production with his 3rd and 4th of the year, en route to a 4-0 win on the Florida Panthers.
“I think recently he’s starting to look more like himself. It’s fun to seek results to help your confidence. This is a step in the right direction, and this line has done a good job. [Newhook] also made some nice plays on these goals [Dach] », Analyzed head coach Martin St-Louis.
“It’s a line that is improving a lot at even strength. If they continue to build on this confidence, we will increase our depth to five against five (…) It’s encouraging,” added the Montreal instructor.
The main interested party instead began his media availability by throwing flowers to his young goalkeeper teammate Jakub Dobes.
“He did a lot of work, several big saves at critical moments. It’s very impressive, especially since it was against a team of this caliber, the reigning champions. To arrive for your first game and achieve the shutout, it’s impressive,” praised Dach.
Limited to a single goal since October 27 before finding his touch on Florida soil, Dach stressed that gradually, the unit he forms with Patrik Laine and Alex Newhook is starting to find its bearings on equal numerical terms.
“It was about giving each other time to be on the ice, playing well together in space. There is still room to build, in order to create even more offense and generate more pucks on net. But as a trio we feel like we performed well today. »
Dach agreed that every contribution to the scoresheet could help get him going again.
“It’s certainly good to be able to play my part in this victory. (…) It’s good to have scored, but I found that our unit played very well in all three zones. We were very good defensively, and that’s what allowed us to generate attack. You have to concentrate on reproducing that. »
