Texier scores 1st hat trick, Canadiens top Panthers for 3rd straight win

MONTREAL -- Alexandre Texier scored his first NHL hat trick, and the Montreal Canadiens got their third straight win, 6-2 against the Florida Panthers at Bell Centre on Thursday.

It was the second straight three-point game for Texier, who had a goal and two assists in a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.

“I don’t know if I’m surprised, I’ve always had confidence in my game,” Texier said. “I got this opportunity and it’s going well. You can’t get too high or too low, you have to keep your feet on the ground too, and I’m just going to keep playing the same way.”

Oliver Kapanen had a goal and two assists, and Juraj Slafkovsky had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (25-13-6), who are 8-1-2 in their past 11 games, including a 3-2 overtime win at Florida on Dec. 30. Mike Matheson had two assists, and Sam Montembeault made 25 saves.

“I thought it was one of our most complete back-to-back games,” Montreal captain Nick Suzuki said. “Just really mature, taking what they’re giving us. It was pretty much back-and-forth, forechecking and dumping pucks in, and we just stuck to the game plan, got the lead and hung on, and it was a huge win against a division rival.”

Sam Bennett scored twice, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 14 saves for the Panthers (22-18-3), who have lost the first two games of a season-long six-game road trip (0-2-0).

“We were looking for other plays instead of the one that was right there,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said.

Noah Dobson put the Canadiens up 1-0 at 2:59 of the first period. His slap shot from the point following a face-off win deflected off Panthers forward A.J. Greer’s stick and sailed in over Bobrovsky’s left shoulder.

Kapanen's third goal in as many games extended the lead to 2-0 at 17:35. Slafkovsky kicked the puck out from behind the goal line, and Kapanen batted it out of the air from in front after it popped off Bobrovsky's stick.

“I know the scorers pretty much score from in front of the net and I like to be there to create some chaos and find those empty spots,” Kapanen said.

Bennett cut the deficit to 2-1 at 5:33 of the second period with a snap shot into a wide-open net from the left side after he intercepted Montembeault’s backhand pass from behind the net.

Texier increased the lead to 3-1 at 13:41 when he set up on the right edge of the crease to deflect in Alexandre Carrier’s backdoor pass.

Texier made it 4-1 with his second goal at 7:26 of the third period. Panthers defenseman Donovan Sebrango initially blocked Texier's cross-slot pass to Cole Caufield on a 2-on-1, but the puck bounced back to Texier, who lifted it over a sprawling Bobrovsky.

Texier signed a one-year contract with Montreal on Nov. 23 after his contract was terminated by the St. Louis Blues.

“I think he jumped right in with the group and focused on looking ahead,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “You can’t do anything about the past and you can’t get tied up in the future, you’ve got to stay in the present and I think that’s what he’s doing.”

Bennett brought Florida to within 4-2 at 11:23 when he drove to the right post to tap in a rebound off a shot from Evan Rodrigues.

Slafkovsky was awarded an empty-net goal to push it to 5-2 at 17:59 after Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe slashed his stick and broke it as he was driving the net.

Texier batted in a rebound to complete the hat trick at 19:10 for the 6-2 final.

“It just felt like we were holding onto our sticks a little bit in the first,” Rodrigues said. “In the second and third, we played better. That’s a good team. We had our pushes and they capitalized when they needed to. It wasn’t good enough.”

NOTES: Texier became the second French player in NHL history to score a hat trick, joining Antoine Roussel (Feb. 18, 2017). He is also the fourth Canadiens player in the past 30 years to have three-point games on consecutive days, joining Tyler Toffoli (Jan. 20-21, 2021), Pierre Turgeon (March 22-23, 1996) and Martin Rucinsky (Jan. 27-28, 1996). ... Panthers forward Brad Marchand did not play. He left after the second period of a 4-1 loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday and is day to day with an undisclosed injury.