Kirby Dach stars in Canadiens' Game 3 win after harsh online criticism

MONTREAL (AP) — What a difference 72 hours made for Kirby Dach.

On Tuesday, the Montreal forward drew the ire of fans after an ill-timed icing and a defensive lapse in overtime led to J.J. Moser’s winning goal in a 3—2 Game 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

By Friday night in front of a roaring Bell Centre crowd, Dach flipped the script, turning frustration into redemption with a goal and an assist in the Canadiens’ 3-2 overtime win that gave Montreal a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven matchup.

“I think you take that night (Tuesday) and you kind of sit on it, dwell on it and understand what you could have done better,” Dach said. “Come Wednesday morning, you’ve got to be able to move on and get ready for tonight’s game."

The vitriol spewed online toward the Dach following the Game 2 loss, forcing the 6-foot-4 center to delete his Instagram account.

Many Canadiens fans also took to social media and local sports talk radio phone lines, calling for coach Martin St. Louis to scratch the forward in favor of Joe Veleno or veteran Brendan Gallagher.

St. Louis wasn’t having any of it.

“I’m not going to give up on a player unless he gives up on himself,” St. Louis said. “Kirby Dach is a really good hockey player. Like any good player, they make mistakes sometimes at key moments. It happens to everyone. It happens to a lot of good players. For sure, he was upset but that’s not a reason to give up on a player.”

Canadiens fans in attendance on Friday were quick to shower the 25-year-old player with love from the get-go. Dach was given a hearty ovation when shown on the scoreboard during warm-ups, with fans chanting “Kir-by! Kir-by!” both before and throughout the game.

“I didn’t really expect it, so it was nice,” Dach said. “The fans have been unbelievable for us all year. For me, they’ve stuck by my side through a lot. It definitely meant a lot.”

Those chants only increased following Dach’s assist on linemate Alexandre Texier’s opening goal early in the first period.

The applause reached a crescendo following confirmation of Dach’s second-period tally, a shot from inside the faceoff circle that bounced off Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh and past goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to tie it at 2.

The newly-formed line of Dach, Texier and Zachary Bolduc, playing together for the first time all season, were on the ice for all three Canadiens goals, including Lane Hutson’s overtime score 2:09 into the extra session. The trio finished the game with a combined six points and six of Montreal’s 29 shots on goal on the night.

It has been a trying season for the oft-injured Dach, having scored just eight goals and 15 points across 37 games during the regular season. His offensive output Friday marked Dach’s first goal and first point at the Bell Centre since Feb. 28. It was also the forward’s first multi-point outing since Jan. 29.

“I’ve been through a lot on the injury front,” Dach said. “I’ve gone through the ups and downs of it and the learning lessons of what it takes and maybe what works and what doesn’t work. I’ve kind of found a recipe to be able to stay in game shape and sharp in the mind mentally and physically be ready to go when it’s time to go.”

Game 4 is Sunday in Montreal.

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Montreal Canadiens' Kirby Dach, left, and Tampa Bay Lightning's Emil Lilleberg (78) look on as Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) is scored against by Canadiens' Lane Hutson during overtime of Game 3 in a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Montreal, Friday, April 24, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Montreal Canadiens' Zachary Bolduc (76) celebrates after a goal by teammate Kirby Dach (not shown) against Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, right, during the second period of Game 3 in a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Montreal, Friday, April 24, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Montreal Canadiens' Kirby Dach (77) celebrates with teammates Zachary Bolduc (76) and Alexandre Texier (85) after scoring against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period of Game 3 in a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Montreal, Friday, April 24, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) makes a save against Montreal Canadiens' Kirby Dach (77) during the second period of Game 3 in a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Montreal, Friday, April 24, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

Montreal Canadiens' Kirby Dach (77) reacts to a goal by teammate Lane Hutson against Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) during overtime in an NHL hockey playoff game in Montreal, Friday, April 24, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — For the first time in two decades, Palestinians in battle-scarred Gaza are voting in local elections Saturday.

And in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, voters are casting ballots for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Turnout may reflect the level of public trust in a broader system led by aging leaders in the West Bank and as Gaza prepares for an anticipated transition from Hamas rule.

The vote in the West Bank will determine the makeup of the local councils overseeing water, roads and electricity. The vote in a single city in Gaza, on the other hand, is largely symbolic, with officials calling it a “pilot.”

Though it has not held presidential or legislative elections since 2006, the Palestinian Authority has promoted the local races following reforms it enacted last year after demands from international backers.

Under the slogan “We Stay,” the Ramallah-based Central Election Commission has campaigned to encourage participation among the nearly 70,000 voters eligible in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah and 1 million in the West Bank.

Voting "reflects the will if the Palestinian people to stay on their land and develop their country," its spokesperson Fareed Taamallah said.

Polls opened early Saturday morning with a steady stream of voters in the West Bank. In the village of Deir Ibzi, near Ramallah, some parents brought their children to watch as election workers helped voters locate their names and voter IDs. While voting, each voter dips their finger in blue ink to show they have voted and avoid fraud.

With much of Gaza decimated by more than two years of war, the commission chose to hold its first vote in Deir al-Balah, which has been damaged by airstrikes but was one of the few areas spared an Israeli ground invasion. It had to improvise because it was unable to conduct traditional voter registration.

“The main idea is to link the West Bank and Gaza politically as one system,” Taamallah said. Palestinians see uniting the two under one government as integral to any path to future statehood.

The commission has not coordinated directly with either Israel or Hamas ahead of the Deir al-Balah vote and has not been able to send materials like ballot paper, ballot boxes or ink into Gaza, he added. COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees humanitarian affairs in Gaza, did not respond to questions about whether it would allow election materials in.

Though Palestinian voter turnout has gradually decreased, it has been relatively high in past local elections by regional standards, according to commission figures, averaging between 50% and 60%. By comparison, turnout in recent local elections in Lebanon and Tunisia was under 40% and 12%, respectively.

Ninety-year-old President Mahmoud Abbas signed a decree last year overhauling the electoral system in line with some demands of Western donors. The reforms allow voting for individuals rather than slates, lowered the eligibility age to run and raised quotas for women candidates.

In January, another Abbas decree required candidates to accept the program of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the group that leads the Palestinian Authority. The program calls for the recognition of Israel and renouncing armed struggle, effectively sidelining Hamas and other factions.

Slates in major cities are dominated by Fatah, the faction that leads the Palestinian Authority, and independents, some with ties to other factions. However, it’s the first time in six local elections that no other faction has officially put forward its own slate — an absence that analysts say reflects political disillusionment under Abbas and the authority’s aging leadership.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the authority exercises limited autonomy, and local councils oversee services from trash collection to building permits. Votes will be held in villages in what's known as “Area C” under Israeli military control as well as in municipalities that have been occupied by Israel's military since it launched a ground invasion in the northern West Bank last year.

Campaign posters have been plastered across cities, though many — including Ramallah and Nablus — will not hold elections because too few candidates or slates registered.

The Palestinian Authority’s power has withered amid years without peace negotiations with Israel and the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. But it sees local elections as a low-risk way to demonstrate progress on reforms, said Aref Jaffal, director of the al-Marsad Arab World Democracy and Electoral Monitor.

“The PA wants to show it is on the right track on political, financial and administrative reforms, and is using local elections as a symbol of that,” he said. “With the weak legitimacy of the national government, it is seeking to bolster legitimacy through local elections.”

With the authority having little recourse to address hundreds of new military gates and settler outposts constricting movement in the West Bank, he said many councils have taken on greater importance, overseeing local health centers, schools and public services that residents once accessed elsewhere.

Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006 and violently seized control of Gaza from the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority a year later. It did not put forth candidates for Saturday, but polling from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research shows it remains the most popular Palestinian faction in both Gaza and the West Bank.

Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N. deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, called the elections “an important opportunity for Palestinians to exercise their democratic rights during an exceptionally challenging period.”

Other international actors, however, have been largely silent on the Gaza vote, with memories still fresh of past elections fueling conflict and other avenues for governance in limbo.

Hamas controls the half of Gaza that Israeli forces withdrew from last year, including Deir al-Balah, but the coastal enclave is preparing to transition to a new governance structure under U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan.

The plan established a Board of Peace made up of international envoys and a committee of unelected Palestinian experts supposed to operate under it. Progress toward further phases, including disarming Hamas, reconstruction and a transfer of power, is stalled.

Associated Press writer Jalal Bwaitel contributed to this report from Ramallah, West Bank.

FILE - A voter prepares his ballot at a polling station during municipal elections in the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)