FLA@MTL: Game recap

MONTREAL – Alexandre Texier scored his first-career hat trick in the Canadiens’ 6-2 win over the Florida Panthers at the Bell Centre on Thursday.

The French national batted home his third goal of the game with just 50 seconds remaining to send the hats flying in Montreal. It was the 26-year-old’s second three-point outing over his last 24 hours of work.

Speaking of three-point efforts, Oliver Kapanen recorded a goal and two assists against the Panthers, while moving into sole possession of the rookie goalscoring lead.

Noah Dobson and Juraj Slafkovsky added Montreal’s other markers.

Samuel Montembeault delivered another steady performance between the pipes, turning aside 25 of the 27 shots sent his way.

For more stats, check out the NHL’s Gamecenter summary here.

Montreal goals

P1 02:57 0-[1] Dobson (Matheson, Kapanen)

P1 17:35 0-[2] Kapanen (Slafkovsky)

P2 13:41 1-[3] Texier (Carrier, Suzuki)

P3 07:26 1-[4] Texier (Matheson)

P3 17:59 2-[5] Slafkovsky (Kapanen, Hutson) - EN

P3 19:10 2-[6] Texier (Blais, Veleno)

Florida goals

P2 05:33 [1]-2 Bennett (Unassisted)

P3 11:23 [2]-4 Bennett (Rodrigues)

What’s next

Montreal’s homestand continues Saturday when they welcome the Detroit Red Wings to town. For tickets, click here.