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03/21 22:09 CDT Cole Caufield has a hat trick in 5-point game to help the Canadiens beat the Islanders 7-3 Cole Caufield has a hat trick in 5-point game to help the Canadiens beat the Islanders 7-3 MONTREAL (AP) --- Cole Caufield scored three goals to push his season total to 43 and added two assists to help the Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Islanders 7-3 on Saturday night. Caufield is second in the NHL in goals, two behind Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon. The Canadiens are third in the Atlantic Division, while the Islanders are a point behind Detroit for the second wild card in the tight Eastern Conference. Juraj Slafkovsky had two goals and two assists, and Nick Suzuki had four assists to bring his season total to 61. Kaiden Guhle added a goal and two assists, Alex Newhook also scored and Jacob Fowler made 19 saves. Emil Heineman, Simon Holmstrom and Matthew Schaefer scored for New York. Ilya Sorokin allowed six goals on 32 shots before he was pulled midway through the third period. David Rittich stopped three of four shots in relief as the Islanders dropped their second second straight game. After Schaefer beat Fowler with a one-timer from the point to tie it 45 seconds into the third period, the Canadiens responded with four goals in a row, Guhle restored the lead when his shot from distance deflected off forward Marc Gatcomb and into the net at 3:17. Slafkovsky made it 5-3 at 8:08, and Caufield chased Sorokin with a shot between the goalie's pads with 8:40 to go. Hats rained down on the ice when the American winger buried his 43rd with 5:01 left.

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Islanders: Host Columbus on Sunday night. Canadiens: Host Carolina on Tuesday night. ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl