PHI@MTL: Game recap

MONTREAL – Juraj Slafkovsky scores his first-career NHL hat trick and the Canadiens skate to a thrilling 9-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Centre on Tuesday.

According to NHL PR, Slafkovsky became the sixth Hab in franchise history to score a hat trick at age 20 or younger. He joins Guy Lafleur, Ryan Poehling, Alex Galchenyuk, Stephane Richer and Bernie Geoffrion. He also became the second-youngest player in Canadiens history to score a hat trick.

With an assist on the Slovak’s opening marker, Cole Caufield set a new personal best for points by reaching the 60-point plateau. 

Christian Dvorak returned to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 30 and scored a pair of tallies to mark the occasion. He centered the fourth line flanked by Michael Pezzetta and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard.

Meanwhile, Joel Armia set a new personal best for goals by notching his 17th marker of the season. Jordan Harris enjoyed his first career three-point outing with a trio of helpers. Brendan Gallagher likewise registered the same number of points (2G, 1A).

Samuel Montembeault made 33 saves. For more stats, visit the NHL's Gamecenter summary here.

Montreal goals

P1 01:05 0-[1] Slafkovsky (Matheson, Caufield)

P2 08:43 0-[2] Slafkovsky (Suzuki, Matheson)

P2 10:46  0-[3] Gallagher (Kovacevic, Harris)

P2 11:22 0-[4] Slafkovsky (Savard)

P2 12:42 0-[5] Anderson (Harris, Pearson)

P2 15:27 0-[6] Dvorak (Harris)

P3 10:06 1-[7] Dvorak (Harvey-Pinard)

P3 11:19 1-[8] Gallagher (Armia, Kovacevic)

P3 18:17 3-[9] Armia (Gallagher, Newhook)

Philadelphia goals

P3 04:54 Poehling (Tippett, Johnson)

P3 15:05 Farabee (Lycksell, Cates)

P3 17:07 Johnson (Tippett, Hathaway)

What’s next

The Canadiens will hit the road for their final trip of the season. Their first stop is in Elmont where they will take on the New York Islanders on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET.