The Canadiens remain in control of the series, Dach thanks the fans, Hagel and Kucherov booed

Raphael Simard
The Canadiens remain in control of the series, Dach thanks the fans, Hagel and Kucherov booed
Credit: X

The Canadiens played two games at the Bell Centre last year, but it seems like playoff fever in 2026 is stronger than ever.

The Canadiens proved to the whole world that they're still the masters of introductions.

What a pregame ceremony, featuring Yvan Cournoyer carrying the torch, among other highlights.

The fans, both inside and outside, were very loud.

And even before the game started, you could hear the “Olé, Olé, Olé.”

That atmosphere took hold right from the warm-up.

When Kirby Dach was introduced on the scoreboard, the fans gave him a warm round of applause. He thanked the fans by earning an assist on Alexandre Texier's first goal of the game.

The “Kirby, Kirby, Kirby!” chant was back.

Jon Cooper was convinced that, given his international achievements, his forward Brandon Hagel would be warmly applauded. Renaud Lavoie wanted neutrality from the fans, but he was obviously booed.

Nikita Kucherov, too, couldn't escape the crowd's boos. On the Lightning's first goal, Kucherov recorded one of the assists. Hagel recorded the third assist on the play.


In a nutshell

– Patrick Roy's friend also lost his job.

– I admire their optimism.

– Too bad.

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