Montreal Canadiens left winger Juraj Slafkovsky of Kosice, Slovakia recorded his first National Hockey League hat trick on Tuesday. The first overall pick of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft accomplished the feat in a 9-3 romp over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec.
How and when did Slafkovsky score thrice?
Slafkovsky opened the scoring at 1:05 of the first period from defenseman Mike Matheson of Pointe-Claire, Quebec, and Cole Caufield of Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Slafkovsky then put the Canadiens up 2-0 from captain Nick Suzuki of London, Ontario and Matheson at 8:43 of the second period. Slafkovsky then scored the game-winning goal at 11:22 of the second period from David Savard of St. Hyacinthe, Quebec. At the time, the Canadiens went up 4-0. All three of Slafkovsky’s goals were even strength.
Slafkovsky in 2023-24
In 2023-24, Slafkovsky has 19 goals and 29 assists for 48 points in 78 games. He is a -18 with 53 penalty minutes, 14 power-play points, two game-winning goals, 147 shots on goal, 10 faceoff wins, 67 blocked shots, 142 hits, 28 takeaways and 40 giveaways. Slafkovsky’s other game-winning goal this season came on December 22 in a 5-2 Canadiens win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Slafkovsky scored from Jesse Ylonen of Scottsdale, Arizona and Suzuki.
Tortorella’s reaction
Losing by six goals did not sit well for Flyers’s head coach John Tortorella. After falling two points back of the Washington Capitals for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the native of Boston, Massachusetts said the following:
“”This is rock bottom, tonight, for us. 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.”
Significant Canadiens Injury
Earlier on Tuesday, the Canadiens announced that defenseman Arber Xhekaj of Hamilton, Ontario would be out for the season after suffering a shoulder injury on Thursday in a 7-4 Canadiens loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 44 games this season, Xhekaj has three goals and seven assists for 10 points. He was a +6 with 81 penalty minutes, 61 shots on goal, 49 blocked shots, 125 hits, four takeaways and 28 giveaways.
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