Juraj Slafkovsky scored a hat trick and the Montreal Canadiens lost their eighth straight game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

MONTREAL — Juraj Slafkovsky remembers scoring a hat trick where the only person tossing his hat onto the ice was his father.

His experience Tuesday night was the opposite.

“I've never had a hat-trick like that,” he said.

Slafkowski scored three times as the Montreal Canadiens handed the Philadelphia Flyers their eighth straight playoff loss with a 9-3 victory.

Slafkowski, 20, gave Montreal a 4-0 lead with his third goal midway through the second period and received a standing ovation from the Bell Center crowd after fans covered the ice with covers.

“It was overwhelming,” Slafkowski said. “That's a great feeling to hear.”

The six-foot-three, 220-pound Slafkowski became the second-youngest Hab in club history to score a hat trick and did so while sick and sleep-deprived.

The Slovakian winger has a sore throat so bad he almost lost his voice, but if he can fill the net with pucks, he'll have to fill his mouth with cough drops.

“If it's (like this) every game, it can stay that way,” he said. “It's just a good day, bad sleep, but a good day.”

Christian Dvorak – in his return from 42 games – and Brendan Gallagher scored twice, while Josh Anderson and Joel Armia scored for Montreal (30-36-12). Sam Montembo made 32 saves and Jordan Harris had three assists as the Canadiens snapped a three-game skid.

Ryan Poehling scored twice and Joel Faraby also scored for Philadelphia (36-32-11). Samuel Ersson stopped 12 of 17 shots in the second period. Reserve Ivan Fedotov dropped 10 of 14.

The Flyers, who were eliminated from the playoffs for the first time on Saturday, finished third in the Metropolitan standings, two points behind the Washington Capitals and four behind the New York Islanders for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. A division with one more game to play.

“We made a lot of mistakes. There were mistakes in turnovers, coverage, every part of the game,” head coach John Tortorella said. “You have to eat it and we have to come together and try to solve the problems.

“Is there enough time to do what we want to do to try to get in, I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about being a pro trying to get our dignity back.”

Every Flyers player sat in uniform as the media filed into the visitors' locker room after the game, a unique site in the NHL.

“They have to answer questions,” Tortorella said.

“I don't question their effort because it's been a strong group all year,” he added. “I feel bad for them because tonight was the lowest for us and after all the good minutes we've had all year, I hate to see us play like this at this time of year.”

The Canadiens opened the scoring 1:05 into the game when Mike Matheson's one-timer deflected off Slafkowski's skate.

After Montembo spurned several Flyer chances, Slafkowski sparked Canada's offense at 8:43 of the second period.

“They score their first goal right away and you say, 'Man,'” Tortorella said. “But I thought we came together and didn't have a bad first period.

“But when they score their second goal, we go on a bit of a run. Things went wrong.”

Gallagher made it 3-0 at 10:46, and Slafkowski netted his hat trick 26 seconds later.

Drafted for the first time in 2022, Slafkowski has 19 goals and 48 points after a rookie season and a slow start.

His offensive turnaround coincides with the rise of Montreal's top line alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield in December — something head coach Martin St. Louis said he found with Slafkowski's defensive play.

“He's done everything I've asked of him,” St.Louis said of his thoughts at the time. “He deserves a chance to play with our best player – and he's gone.

“But it worked.”

Anderson went 16 games without a goal at 12:42 into the game. Fedotov entered the goal and Dvorak made the score 6:0 at 15:27.

Poehling got Philadelphia on the board in the third, but Dvorak and Gallagher scored again to make it seven and “Ole, Ole, Ole” echoed through the arena.

Farabi and Poehling took the lead before the final buzzer, but the deficit was too big to overcome.

Army added Montreal's ninth goal with two minutes remaining for good measure.

NEXT UP

Canadiens: Open a three-game road trip against the New York Islanders on Thursday.

Sheets: Finish a four-game road trip against the New York Rangers on Thursday.

This Canadian Press report was first published on April 9, 2024.