Habs Crush Flyers, Slafkovsky With a Hat Trick | RECAP: PHI @ MTL

Juraj Slafkovsky, Brendan Gallagher and Christian Dvorak each had multi-goal performances as the Montreal Canadiens demoralized the Philadelphia Flyers.

Forwards

22 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky
11 Brendan Gallagher - 15 Alex Newhook - 40 Joel Armia
70 Tanner Pearson - 71 Jake Evans - 17 Josh Anderson
55 Michael Pezzetta - 28 Christian Dvorak - 49 Rafael Harvey-Pinard

Defensemen
8 Mike Matheson - 58 David Savard
54 Jordan Harris - 26 Johnathan Kovacevic
47 Jayden Struble - 52 Justin Barron

Goaltenders

Starter: 35 Sam Montembeault
Alternate: 30 Cayden Primeau 

Out of the lineup

Scratches: Jesse Ylonen, Colin White
Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), Joshua Roy (hand), Arber Xhekaj (upper body), Kaiden Guhle (upper body)

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6X2qyE8ME8[/embed]

The Philadelphia Flyers came into the game in a tailspin in their pursuit for a playoff spot and the Canadiens took full advantage. Juraj Slafkovsky earned his first career NHL hat trick as the Habs added to the Flyers' woes.

Montreal has struggled at times during the second period this season but tonight they exploded for five goals and chased Sam Ersson, Philadelphia's starting goaltender.

In addition to a three goal night for Slafkovsky, Brendan Gallagher and Christian Dvorak each scored twice. For Dvorak, it was his first action after a 42-game absence, sidelined with a torn pectoral muscle. It was a three-assist game for Jordan Harris, the first of his NHL career.

Joel Armia scored his 17th goal of the season, a new personal milestone for him. Even Josh Anderson found the back of the net, only his third goal of 2024. 

With the win the Canadiens leapfrog the Coyotes into 27th place in the NHL standings.

Canadiens (30-36-12)
Shots: 30
Face-off %: 46.0
Power play: 0/0
Penalty minutes: 6
Hits: 16
Blocks: 17

Flyers (36-32-11)
Shots: 36
Face-off %: 54.0
Power play: 0/2
Penalty minutes: 2
Hits: 23
Blocks: 25

Canadiens Scorers
1st period: Slafkovsky (17)
2nd period: Slafkovsky (18), Gallagher (12), Slafkovsky (19), Anderson (9), Dvorak (4),
3rd period: Dvorak (5), Gallagher (13), Armia (17)
OT: --
SO: --

Flyers Scorers
1st period: --
2nd period: --
3rd period: Poehling (11), Farabee (22), Poehling (12)
OT: --
SO: --

Goaltenders
MTL: Montembeault (W) 16-15-7
PHI: Ersson (L) 21-18-7

Juraj Slafkovsky - Slafkovsky scored three times on six shots and delivered three hits.

Jordan Harris - Harris recorded three assists and added three blocked shots.

Brenda Gallagher - Gallagher scored twice and added an assist.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4dCra_Vd94[/embed]

Juraj Slafkovsky

“It's a good feeling. I don't remember my last hat trick. But we won and we finally scored a lot of goals. This is what makes me even happier."

Christian Dvorak

“I felt good. It's a weight lifted off my shoulders. I felt better and better as the match progressed. You can skate all you want, nothing compares to playing real games."

The Canadiens have three road games next on the schedule starting in Long Island on Thursday night.

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