The Montreal Canadiens battled hard but came up short in Game 2, falling 3-2 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night. The loss evened the Round 1 series at 1-1, but the spotlight quickly turned to a decisive mistake, with a Canadiens insider singling out Kirby Dach for the costly error.
Kirby Dach’s Costly Error Hurts Montreal Canadiens
Forward Kirby Dach found himself under intense scrutiny after a sequence in overtime helped seal the Lightning victory.
It began with a failed clearing attempt by Dach that was ruled icing, forcing Montreal into a defensive-zone faceoff with a tired unit stuck on the ice. Moments later, the situation worsened. Dach lost track of his coverage, allowing Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser to slip behind him. Moser moved in front of goaltender Jakub Dobes and buried the game-winner.
The sequence drew immediate criticism from analysts and insiders. Canadiens insider Pierre McGuire didn’t hold back, pointing to multiple breakdowns in the play and specifically calling out Dach’s lack of defensive pushback.
“Absolutely no pushback at all, zero pushback at all on JJ Mosier, that can’t happen. He’s not in end zone coverage, if you’re the winger, that D-man coming off the wall cannot beat you to the other side of the ice. He cannot. And he did, and that is unacceptable. Kirby Dach’s not 5’10. Kirby Dach is 6’4. That can’t happen,” McGuire said.
Despite the criticism, McGuire also praised Montreal’s overall effort, noting the team showed heart, resilience, and competitiveness throughout the game. Still, he underlined that small execution errors, like losing clean faceoffs after icing and allowing coverage breakdowns, can decide playoff games.
“If you have strong side defensive coverage, you cannot let that player cross your face across the blue line. You cannot. It’s non-negotiable. He’s got to come down to boards or that’s it. You’re not playing anymore. Those are non-negotiables,” McGuire added.
Another insider, Marco D’Amico, echoed the sentiment, suggesting the mistake could even impact Dach’s place in the lineup. “Kirby Dach likely cost himself his spot in the lineup. That’s simply unacceptable in the playoffs, you need to pay the price and get to the red line,” D’Amico said.
With the series now tied 1-1, the focus turns to Game 3, which moves to Montreal on Friday. The Canadiens showed they can compete with Tampa Bay, but the spotlight will remain on tightening defensive details and on how Dach responds after a costly moment.
