Montreal Canadiens' Cole Caufield (13) scores against New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin (30) during second period NHL hockey action in Montreal, Saturday, March 21, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

By The Canadian Press

Caufield scores hat trick in five-point night, Canadiens crush Islanders 7-3

Mar 21, 2026 | 7:08 PM

MONTREAL — Cole Caufield scored a hat trick and added two assists as the Montreal Canadiens crushed the New York Islanders 7-3 in a heated, playoff-like affair Saturday night.

Juraj Slafkovsky had two goals and two assists while Nick Suzuki provided four helpers — reaching 61 on the season — on a dominant evening for the Canadiens’ top line.

Kaiden Guhle added one goal and two assists, and Alex Newhook also scored for Montreal (38-21-10). Jacob Fowler made 19 saves.

Emil Heineman, Simon Holmstrom and Matthew Schaefer replied for New York (39-26-5), which lost its second straight game.

Ilya Sorokin allowed six goals on 32 shots before he was pulled midway through the third period. David Rittich turned aside three of four shots in relief.

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The Canadiens entered Saturday third in the Atlantic Division with 84 points in 68 games, while the Islanders sat as the first team outside the playoff picture — with 83 points through 69 games — in a tight Eastern Conference.

Rookie-of-the-year favourite Schaefer’s one-timer from the point beat Fowler to tie the game 45 seconds into the third period. Then the Canadiens responded with four unanswered.

Guhle restored the lead when his shot from distance deflected off forward Marc Gatcomb and into the net at 3:17.

Slafkovsky then put the Canadiens ahead 5-3 at 8:08, prompting a chorus of “Olé, Olé” chants at the Bell Centre, before Caufield chased Sorokin with a shot between the goalie’s pads at 11:20. Hats rained down on the ice when the American winger buried his 43rd of the season at 14:59.

Slafkovsky opened the scoring 4:10 into the first period, hammering a one-timer on the power play.

Heineman answered with the man-advantage at 6:46 before Holmstrom capitalized on a breakaway at 13:19 to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission — despite being outshot 17-6.

As big hits and post-whistle scrums increased in the second period, Newhook lit up the crowd with a one-timer off Guhle’s high-to-low feed at 17:49. Caufield scored 79 seconds later for a 3-2 lead.

TAKEAWAYS

Canadiens: Outscored some costly mistakes on a night they drove the play. Unnecessary penalties from Guhle and Brendan Gallagher, and a turnover from Lane Hutson, led directly to New York’s three goals.

Islanders: Heineman reached 20 goals for the first time in his career, scoring high glove side with a wicked wrist shot against his former team. The Canadiens traded the 24-year-old Swede to the Islanders last summer in a package for defenceman Noah Dobson.

KEY MOMENT

Caufield received a pass near the goal line, skated toward Sorokin and calmly snuck a short-side shot into the top-left corner for his first of the night.

KEY STAT

Caufield scored his 25th go-ahead goal on the season, tying Joe Sakic, John LeClair and Cam Neely for the fourth-highest single-season total in NHL history. Brett Hull tops the list with 39 in 1990-91.

UP NEXT

Islanders: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.

Canadiens: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press