Slafkovsky gets 1st NHL hat trick, Canadiens hand Flyers 8th loss in row

MONTREAL -- Juraj Slafkovsky scored his first NHL hat trick, and the Montreal Canadiens handed the Philadelphia Flyers their eighth straight loss with a 9-3 win at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

“I’m a little sick and it got me good, it got my throat,” said Slafkovsky, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. “It can stay like this if it’s every game.”

Brendan Gallagher had two goals and an assist, and Christian Dvorak scored twice in his first game since Dec. 30 because of a torn pectoral muscle for the Canadiens (30-36-12), who had lost three straight. Jordan Harris had three assists, and Sam Montembeault made 33 saves.

“The boys played well, so that helped a lot,” Dvorak said. “It was a good team win and I didn’t feel too bad. My game legs felt a little better as the game went on, so it was just a really fun game to be a part of.”

Joel Farabee and Ryan Poehling scored for the Flyers (36-32-11), who are 0-6-2 during their skid. Samuel Ersson allowed five goals on 17 shots before he was replaced in the second period by Ivan Fedotov, who stopped nine of 13 shots in relief.

All of Philadelphia’s players were seated in their stalls in uniform following the game. Flyers coach John Tortorella said, “They need to answer the questions.”

“I’m not questioning their effort,” Tortorella said. “I just think we’ve lost ourselves in managing games and I think some guys may feel it a little bit because they want to try to get us out of this. But I don’t question the care, I don’t question the effort because it’s been a strong group all year long.

“I’m frustrated for them because this was rock bottom tonight for us, and I hate to see us at this time of year be playing this way after all the good minutes we’ve put in throughout the year.”

Philadelphia fell two points behind the Washington Capitals for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Capitals, who have played one fewer game, defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on Tuesday.

Slafkovsky gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 1:05 of the first period when Mike Matheson’s one-timer from the top of the slot deflected in off his skate.

Slafkovsky made it 2-0 at 8:43 of the second period. He scored on a one-timer from the right edge of the crease off a pass from Nick Suzuki.

Gallagher pushed it to 3-0 at 10:46, tipping Johnathan Kovacevic’s one-timer from the top of the left circle over Ersson’s glove.

Slafkovsky completed the hat trick at 11:22 to extend it to 4-0. He shot past Ersson's blocker after Justin Barron’s stretch pass sent him in on a breakaway.

Josh Anderson made it 5-0 at 12:42 with his first goal since March 2. He drove the net and the puck slid over the line as he crashed into Ersson, who was replaced by Fedotov after the goal.

“We just couldn’t play in our D-zone and they capitalized on a lot of their chances, and we just weren’t good enough,” Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim said.

Dvorak, who had missed the past 42 games, scored at 15:27 to make it 6-0.

“It’s embarrassing, obviously,” Flyers captain Sean Couturier said. “In the second (period) we just gave up a lot of odd-man rushes, weren’t responsible defensively, and they made us pay.”

Poehling cut it to 6-1 at 4:54 of the third period on a shot from the top of the right circle.

Dvorak pushed it to 7-1 with his second goal of the game at 10:06, and Gallagher made it 8-1 with his second of the game at 11:19.

Farabee scored at 15:05 to make it 8-2, and Erik Johnson cut it to 8-3 at 17:07.

Joel Armia scored off a pass from Gallagher at 18:17 for the 9-3 final.

“Too bad we’re out of the running (for the Stanley Cup Playoffs) this year, but it’s good that we’re building our game,” Slafkovsky said.

NOTES: Slafkovsky is the sixth Canadiens player to score a hat trick at the age of 20 or younger, joining Guy Lafleur (three times), Poehling (April 6, 2019), Alex Galchenyuk (Dec. 16, 2014), Stephane Richer (March 17, 1986) and Bernie Geoffrion (Jan. 27, 1952) … It was the most goals Montreal has scored in a game since a 10-2 win against the Florida Panthers on April 29, 2022.