Habs fans outraged after Kirby Dach costs his team the game.
The fans of the Montreal Canadiens have had all they can stomach of Kirby Dach after a brutal end to today's game.
The Montreal Canadiens did everything they could to earn at least a point on Saturday against the New York Rangers, but all of their efforts were for naught thanks in large part to a boneheaded play on the part of forward Kirby Dach late in the third period.
Dach, who has already been the target of a ton of criticism this season with just 1 goal and 7 assists for a total of 8 points in 22 games this season, and an abysmal plus minus rating of -18 on top of that, effectively cost his team the game after his teammates had done a good job of rallying back into the game in the third period.
The Habs entered the third period down by 2 goals but swarmed the offensive zone for much of the period and had numerous good scoring chances on Rangers veteran goaltender Jonathan Quick as a result, 2 of which would find their way into the back of the net. That would tie up the game at 3-3, that is at least until late in the third, with just over 2 minutes left on the game clock, when Dach made his presence felt.
Dach, who up until that point had largely been a non-factor in the game and had produced no points, would take a horrible offensive zone penalty when he high-sticked Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad right in front of the National Hockey League's officials behind the Rangers' net, earning himself a 4 minute double minor in the process.
Here's a look at the replay:
The best case scenario would have been the Canadiens killing off a little over 2 minutes and 40 seconds of that penalty in regulation, only to start overtime on the penalty kill with the Rangers getting a 4 on 3 advantage, but the Rangers wouldn't let the game get that far and punched for their third power play goal of the game.
The response from Habs fans online has been brutal with many quickly pointing the finger at Dach, a player with whom they seem to have lost all patience. Here are just a few examples:
I thought this one was particularly funny while also being quite tough on Dach:
It would appear as though fans of the Montreal Canadiens have had all they can stomach of Kirby Dach, and you have to wonder if the Canadiens coaching staff might be starting to feel the same way.