‘It was a great night’ — Laughton scores all four goals in Flyers win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Scott Laughton and Aleksei Kolosov led the Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Red Wings on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Laughton scored all four goals and Kolosov was strong in net.
The Flyers (14-12-4) won their second consecutive game and have earned at least a point in 13 of their last 17 games (10-4-3).
John Tortorella’s club was able to build on one of the best performances of the season: a 5-3 victory over the Blue Jackets on Tuesday evening.
After Detroit cut the Flyers’ lead to 2-1, Laughton scored an empty-netter to give himself a hat trick. For good measure he added a second empty-netter. The 30-year-old became the first Flyer to score four goals in a game since John LeClair did so in October 2002.
“Really happy for him,” Sean Couturier said. “He’s probably one of the best teammates you can have.”
Laughton is a beloved Flyer who has been with the organization since 2012. He received a lengthy standing ovation from his teammates in the locker room after the game.
“It was pretty electric here,” Laughton said. “We are a close group and we celebrate the victories. A good feeling tonight, for sure. I can hopefully get my game going offensively. It was a great evening.”
Like the Flyers, the Red Wings (11-14-4) have played a lot of close games, with 10 of the last 12 decided by one goal. The Flyers visit Detroit in six days for the second of three meetings between the clubs.
• Kolosov denied 25 of 26 shots.
The 22-year-old was sharp and the Flyers helped his cause by heavily dictating the second period. Kolosov looked like his athletic self and flashed his glove several times.
“To get the scoring opportunities he had in the second half of that third period and how he was positioned there,” Tortorella said. “He was really good.”
The Red Wings got one past him with 3:53 minutes left.
Kolosov entered and was 3-1-1 with a 2.58 goals-against average and .904 save percentage over his last five starts.
“You can tell he’s a gamer, he fights hard, he fights for a lot of pucks,” Couturier said. “He is very athletic and never gives up on pucks.”
More: Tortorella explains Flyers depth chart
Detroit netminder Cam Talbot was outstanding, stopping 32 of the Flyers’ 34 shots.
Before Laughton cracked him with a breakaway and blast in the second period, Talbot had just made three excellent saves to keep the match scoreless. He robbed Matvei Michkov with a glove stop. Then, in the span of 16 seconds, he denied a 2-on-1 fight for Joel Farabee and an escape from Couturier.
So Laughton fired a slap shot.
“Coots has a breakaway, a 2-on-1 Beezer misses; I think Laughts said, ‘To hell with his, I’m just going to ride this thing,'” Tortorella said. “And that’s what he did. For a Scotty Laughton, you always hope good things happen for him. He’s worked so hard. It’s good and it’s obviously a big reason why we win the game.”
By the second intermission, the Flyers had fired 30 shots at Talbot.
Laughton struck again in the third period. He recorded his 17th NHL shorthanded point since the 2022-23 season with a goal off a feed from Travis Konecny. Those two make a dangerous duo on the penalty kill.
“Scotty is one of those guys where no matter where he is in the lineup or what his job is, he is always in good spirits at the rink,” Konecny said. “He never complains about anything, he just puts his head down and does what he has to do. I think when he’s called on for an attack he has a lot of skill.”
The Flyers went on the PK immediately after the opening draw of the third period. Michkov received a rough penalty after coming into contact with Alex DeBrincat. It is becoming increasingly clear that Michkov is playing with an edge.
• Michkov saw his best five-game winning streak of the season snapped. The twenty-year-old winger scored three goals and seven assists.
After a delayed penalty from Red Wings in the second period, Michkov almost managed to beat ‘the Michigan’. He tried to score the lacrosse-style goal from behind the net, but Talbot slid over in time to make the save.
Thursday night marked the first time Michkov did not score a point since November 29. He entered the season as a point-per-game player with 11 goals and 16 assists in 27 games.
• Emil Andrae was a healthy scratch when Egor Zamula entered the lineup, playing alongside Rasmus Ristolainen.
The 22-year-old Andrae has strengthened the Flyers’ defense. But he was minus-3 the last two games and took a big hit.
“I think Andrae fought it,” Tortorella said during the morning skate. “It was a bit of a battle with the puck, it was a battle without the puck. We have to be careful when developing a guy like that, he’s coming in like gangbusters.”
• The Flyers practice Friday at noon ET before flying to St. Paul, Minnesota for a Saturday matchup with the Wild (2 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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