Cole Caufield achieved his 1st career NHL hat trick as the Montreal Canadiens decimated the Presidents Trophy winners Florida Panthers in a shock 10-2 victory Friday night in Montreal at the Bell Centre to conclude their 104th season in the NHL.
Yes, that is a real scoreline.
The Habs needed just under 2 minutes for their first goal, courtesy of Jordan Harris, his first tally of the season. It would be the first of 4 unanswered goals by Montreal, subsequently adding efforts by Mike Hoffman (15) at 4:18, Caufield's 1st of the night (21) just 12 seconds later, and Brendan Gallagher (7) at 12:23 on the power play to take a 4-0 lead. Florida did manage to get one back before the end of the first period, though, at 18:23, with Ben Chiarot's (9) PPG, making it 4-1 heading to the 2nd period.
Montreal had an even faster start to the 2nd, with Caufield's 2nd of the night and 22nd of 2021-22 making it 5-1 Habs just 1:33 in. This was also a catalyst for another 4 unanswered goal barrage by Montreal. This time, Mathieu Perreault (4) at 3:55, Jake Evans (13) at 6:08, and Christian Dvorak (11) at 13:21 gave the Habs an astonishing 8-1 advantage heading to the 3rd period.
In the final regulation frame, it took a bit longer for Montreal to light the lamp, but they eventually did at 8:12 with Caufield's hat trick goal, his 23rd of the season making it 9-1. Tyler Pitlick (1) finished off Montreal's goal-fest with the double-digit goal at 9:51. Florida did manage another goal back, as Noel Acciari (3) at 14:45 made it 10-2 for the final lamp-lighter on the night.
Montreal finishes their season with a bang, as they failed to qualify for the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Funny, considering they made the CUP FINAL in 2020-21.
Team Stats:
Shots: FLA 39, MTL 37
Hits: FLA 13, MTL 15
Faceoff Wins: FLA 28, MTL 36
PIM: FLA 4, MTL 2
Up Next:
FLA: Playoffs, Game 1 vs. or @ WSH, time & date TBA
MTL: That's all, folks!
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