If the Philadelphia Flyers continue to search for answers, young Canadian forward Juraj Slafkovsky found his answer near the opponent’s net, scoring his first career NHL hat trick on Tuesday at the Bell Centre.
The Slovakian struck once in the opening period and twice in the middle period to lead the Habs to a lopsided 9-3 victory at the expense of a team that was about to destroy its chances of qualifying for the next series. He took advantage of a mediocre defense to increase his goals total for the season to 19.
Slafkovsky opened his account by blocking Mike Matheson’s shot just 65 seconds in. He then doubled his team’s lead by completing a beautiful five-way conversion near the slot. Finally, he caused a shower of hats and caps when he got the better of Samuel Ersson thanks to a pass from David Savard.
A simple game
The Flyers, also defeated in Montreal less than two weeks ago, looked anything but a desperate team on the ice. Despite a timeout requested by their driver John Tortorella, they continued to put up a poor performance. Goal-hungry veterans like Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson and Christian Dvorak took advantage and scored. The former scored a rare brace, the latter ended a 16-game goalless drought, while the third pulled the strings twice in their first meeting since December 30. Dvorak missed 25 games with a torn muscle and punctuated his return each time by thwarting Ivan Fedotov, who replaced Ersson.
Samuel Montembeault, for his part, excelled when the situation called for it. The Quebecer, who made 32 saves, notably frustrated Owen Tippett twice in a row in the first period and also frustrated Cam York and Morgan Frost later in the evening. Former Canadian Ryan Poehling, however, let his guard down twice in the final outing.
Montembeault helped his team reach the 30-win plateau this season; Montreal needs a win to reach its point total from last year but has already surpassed its 2022-23 point total, claiming 72 so far.
In summary
Joel Armia scored with less than two minutes left in the game.
Joel Farabee was the other goalscorer for the losing team.
Previously, CH had awarded striker Florian Xhekaj a three-year contract. As for his brother Arber, he had to undergo surgery on his left shoulder and his campaign is over.
The Habs will have the opportunity to throw obstacles at the New York Islanders and their head coach Patrick Roy on Thursday, the first of three road trip games for Martin St-Louis’ men.
SUMMARY
THIRD PERIOD
18:17 | GOAL – Joel Armia (MTL) scores after a nice pass from Brendan Gallagher
Armia makes 9-3 thanks to Gallagher –
17:07 | GOAL – Ryan Poehling (PHI) scores a brace
Ryan Poehling scores his 2nd goal of the game –
15:05 | GOAL – Joel Farabee (PHI) scores a lucky goal with a rebound, making the score 8:2
Joel Farabee scores for the honor –
11:19 | GOAL – Brendan Gallagher (MTL) finds himself alone in front of Ivan Fedotov (PHI) and scores a second goal
Gallagher scores again… it’s 8-1?! –
10:54 | Samuel Montembeault (MTL) stands out ahead of Travis Konecny (PHI).
10:06 | GOAL – The double for Christian Dvorak! (MTL)
Dvorak scores his 2nd goal and it’s 7:1! –
6:12 | Noah Cates (PHI) hits Jordan Harris (MTL) hard
5:46 | Alex Newhook (MTL) is penalized for high stick
4:55 | GOAL – Ryan Poehling (PHI) scores with a quick shot
An 11th goal of the season for Poehling –
3:19 | Ivan Fedotov (PHI) stops a hidden shot by Michael Pezzetta (MTL)
1:22 | Jayden Struble (MTL) intervenes at the right time ahead of Ryan Poehling (PHI).
0:00 | Beginning of the third period
SECOND PERIOD
17:45 | Brendan Gallagher (MTL) collides with Ivan Fedotov (PHI), a scuffle ensues, Jayden Struble (MTL) and Travis Konecny (PHI) are penalized
15:27 | GOAL – Christian Dvorak (MTL) is up next and enjoys his return to the game
Dvorak enjoys his return to the game –
12:39 | GOAL – Josh Anderson (MTL) storms into the net and finds a way to the goal, the working evening for Samuel Ersson (PHI) is over, he is replaced by Ivan Fedotov
Josh Anderson (you read that right) storms into the net and scores –
11:22 | GOAL – Juraj Slafkovsky (MTL) escapes and completes his first NHL hat trick!
Slafkovsky scores his first hat-trick and receives a big ovation –
10:46 | GOAL – Brendan Gallagher (MTL) scores his 12th goal of the season by blocking a shot by Johnathan Kovacevic (MTL).
A 12th goal for Gallagher –
8:42 | GOAL – Juraj Slafkovsky (MTL) completes a great shot from Nick Suzuki and scores his second goal of the game!
The double for Juraj Slafkovsky! –
7:20 | Samuel Montembeault (MTL) resists again, this time ahead of Cam York (PHI).
6:28 | Jake Evans (MTL) shoots, Samuel Ersson (PHI) holds on
5:10 | Nick Suzuki (MTL) misses a great chance after receiving a nice pass from Juraj Slafkovsky (PHI).
4:21 | Joel Armia (MTL) misses a great opportunity as he is alone in front of Samuel Ersson (PHI).
3:45 | Samuel Montembeault (MTL) fends off Morgan Frost (PHI) with a beautiful save.
2:05 | Samuel Montembeault (MTL) stops a sharp shot from Owen Tippett (PHI)
0:14 | Travis Konecny (PHI) beats Jordan Harris (MTL)
0:00 | Start of the second period
FIRST PERIOD
18:42 | Alex Newhook (MTL) misses a great chance after receiving a perfect pass from Joel Armia (MTL).
17:03 | Jamie Drysdale (PHI) plays the hero by blocking a dangerous shot from Cole Caufield (MTL).
16:55 | Nick Suzuki (MTL) misses a chance for a beautiful production by Justin Barron (MTL)
15:20 | Samuel Montembeault (MTL) stops Owen Tippett (PHI) twice in a row
12:01 | Christian Dvorak (MTL) threatens with Inf. digital, Samuel Ersson (PHI) is cautious and keeps the puck
10:31 | The CH is punished for sending too many men onto the ice
9:08 | Due to a strange jump, the puck is thrown directly in front of Samuel Montembeault (MTL), who reacts quickly and stops it
7:25 | Hard check by Travis Konecny (PHI) against Mike Matheson (MTL)
5:38 | Samuel Montembeault (MTL) frustrates Jamie Drysdale (PHI)
4:57 | Samuel Ersson (PHI) holds his position in front of a shot by Jayden Struble (MTL)
2:31 | Michael Pezzetta (MTL) gives Sean Couturier (PHI) a solid check.
1:05 | GOAL – Mike Matheson (MTL) shoots from the blue line, the puck hits Juraj Slafkovsky (MTL) and makes its way behind Samuel Ersson (PHI).
Matheson opens the scoring and comes dangerously close to the 60-point mark –
0:55 | Nick Suzuki (MTL) misses a great opportunity
0:00 | Start of the meeting
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