BOX SCORE
The Flyers gave their general manager one more quality show before Monday’s 3 p.m. ET NHL trade deadline.
Chuck Fletcher watched his club beat the Jets, 4-2, Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers (35-20-7), who won their third straight, came into the action with a 79.6 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to Hockey-Reference.com. They sit in third place of the Metropolitan Division and are only three points back of the Penguins and Capitals (see standings).
Game 62 is the quickest the Flyers have recorded 35 wins since 2010-11, when the club got there at Game 53. The Flyers finished with 47 wins, 106 points and a playoff series victory that season.
The Jets (32-26-5), who entered holding the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot, had their three-game winning streak snapped.
• Saturday marked the Flyers’ final outing ahead of the trading period.
Alain Vigneault’s club is looking more and more like a contender. The Flyers are 13-5-1 with an NHL-high 68 goals since Jan. 8. Over that stretch, only two teams have more points than their 27 — the Lightning (31) and Bruins (29). Overall, they’re a top-seven team in the league.
Does the Flyers’ standing give Fletcher more incentive to add to his roster? Or do the Flyers have enough to make a run?
“I like my team,” Vigneault said before the game. “And for me, this is no different as any other day during the regular season. I know that Chuck looks at any option that can improve our team, he’s been doing that since the first day that I was hired. Now we’re into the final stretch. If there’s something that he feels can improve our team, he’ll definitely look at it. But I’m very happy moving forward with the players that we have here.”
Does Vigneault have a voice in the matters?
“I’ve got a nice French voice,” the head coach said with a laugh. “So I’ll throw my two cents in there, it’ll be fine.”
• The Flyers didn’t play their best game, but good teams win when they’re not at their best.
They did enough and a solid first period made up for a subpar second period in which the Flyers were outshot 15-4.
• For all the talk about the Flyers needing to add depth at forward, Scott Laughton has given the club plenty of it.
He scored a pair of goals to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead at first intermission. In 40 fewer games this season, Laughton has matched his career of 12 goals set in 2018-19.
If the Flyers get Nolan Patrick (migraine disorder) back or acquire a center at the deadline, Laughton would likely be pegged as the team’s fourth-line center. Not bad at all.
The play from Provy!
The finish from Laughts!Flyers are up 1-0. pic.twitter.com/crKjlpSrPL
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) February 22, 2020
GO 👏 OFF 👏 SCOTT 👏
That’s two goals for Scott Laughton! pic.twitter.com/HjLneIfoq1
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) February 22, 2020
Tyler Pitlick, another depth piece, scored a clutch third-period goal to extend the Flyers’ lead to 4-2. Sean Couturier was the Flyers’ other goal scorer. The team’s role guys continued to play well.
• Flyers defensemen Ivan Provorov, Matt Niskanen, Justin Braun and Robert Hagg were very good against a big, skilled offensive team.
Braun finished with three assists.
Justin Braun has 14 points and a plus-14 rating in his last 19 games. That’s really good.
Underrated addition to this 2019-20 Flyers team.
— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) February 23, 2020
• Carter Hart gave up a power play blast off the stick of Patrik Laine and a goal to Josh Morrissey.
Outside of that, he was stout again, improving to 16-2-2 with a 1.64 goals-against average at home.
He’s a huge reason why the Flyers are 21-5-4 with a plus-45 goal differential in 30 home games.
• Shayne Gostisbehere (left knee) will wrap up his two-game conditioning stint tonight with AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley.
Vigneault said pregame that he expects Gostisbehere to return to the big club Sunday. The Flyers will have decisions to make heading into Monday (see story).
• Stick tap to Flyers director of sports medicine Jim McCrossin.
Oskar Lindblom and Jim McCrossin. Terrific.
(📷 by Flyers PR guru Zack Hill) pic.twitter.com/4jHRQQppfL
— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) February 22, 2020
Flyers director of sports medicine Jim McCrossin working his 2,000th career game. pic.twitter.com/vLTYbOU2s2
— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) February 22, 2020
Congrats to Director of Sports Medicine Jim McCrossin, who will work his 2,000th career professional game today! pic.twitter.com/mFrHPTYkRl
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) February 22, 2020
• The team is off from practice Sunday as the Flyers Wives Carnival will be held at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers practice Monday at 11:30 a.m. in Voorhees, New Jersey, before hosting the Sharks Tuesday (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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