Laughton scores twice for Flyers in win against Jets

PHILADELPHIA --Scott Laughton scored two goals for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 4-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.

Carter Hart made 27 saves, and Justin Braun had three assists for Philadelphia (35-20-7), which has won three straight and is 10-3-1 in its past 14 games. The Flyers are three points behind the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
"I think we just continue to grow as a team, and wherever we finish, we finish," Laughton said.
WATCH: [All Jets vs. Flyers highlights]
Josh Morrissey and Patrik Laine scored for Winnipeg (32-26-5), which had its three-game winning streak end. Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves.
The Jets are one point behind the Arizona Coyotes for the first wild card, and one point ahead of the Nashville Predators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"I think we played a pretty good hockey game," Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. "Don't want to just take away from a good game that they played, but sometimes when two teams are playing well, it's a matter of a bounce of the puck here or there. They cashed in on their chances."

Laughton gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 2:06 of the first period when he drove to the net and scored off pass from Ivan Provorov. It's the seventh straight game the Jets have allowed the first goal.
"Would be fun not to be down right away every game," Laine said. "That's something we definitely need to work on, get the opening goal."
Laughton made it 2-0 at 9:03 of the first, cutting through the middle of the zone on a rush before a pass in front for Tyler Pitlick went in off the skate of Hellebuyck.
The forward has 12 goals in 42 games this season, tying his NHL career high he set in 82 games last season.
"It's obviously nice when you can contribute offensively, but got to do the little details right in your own zone," Laughton said. "Kind of learned that going back down to the minors a couple years ago and just trying to do that and become the best player that I could for this team."
Laughton blocked three shots, was plus-3, went 6-for-10 on face-offs, and was on the ice for 29 of the 55 seconds the Flyers were shorthanded.
"I thought he played one of his best games tonight," Philadelphia coach Alain Vigneault said. "That 200-foot game, real solid defensively. ... Both our first two goals are his line (James van Riemsdyk and Pitlick) driving to the net, going hard. ... Then definitely blocked a couple of big shots tonight that you need."
Sean Couturier extended the lead to 3-0 at 14:50 of the second period. He has six points (four goals, two assists) during a six-game point streak.

Morrissey scored on a one-timer from the left circle to make it 3-1 at 18:04 of the second. It was his first goal since Jan. 6 (20 games).
Laine scored a power-play goal at 3:00 of the third to get Winnipeg within 3-2. Pitlick tipped a shot by Robert Hagg that deflected in off the leg of Jets defenseman Tucker Poolman at 9:34 for the 4-2 final.

They said it

"We're down 3-0, try to battle back and it wasn't enough, so it's obviously frustrating. But we'll have to rebound fast. That's the great part of a back-to-back, (we) get another shot at it tomorrow."-- Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey
"Once they made it 3-2 on their power-play goal, we played the best that we did all night. When the game was on the line, we played the right way, we made the right plays defensively, we made the right plays with puck. We were at our best when the game was on the line tonight and I thought that's a real positive sign." -- Flyers coach Alain Vigneault
"It's awesome. The smile, this is a great guy to have around. Just kind of brightens your day. The fact that he's doing well and he's able to come to the rink and see the boys is just fantastic." -- Flyers defenseman Justin Braun on seeing teammate Oskar Lindblom, who is out for the season while undergoing cancer treatment

Need to know

Laine has six points (two goals, four assists) during a four-game point streak. ... Jets forwards Mark Scheifele (three goals, four assists) and Nikolaj Ehlers (two goals, three assists) each had an assist on Morrissey's goal to extend their point streaks to three games. ... Braun, who missed Philadelphia's 4-3 overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday because of the flu, had three assists for the second time in four games. ... The Flyers got their 1,200th win as the home team, becoming the first non-Original Six team to do so.

What's next

Jets:At the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; MSG-B, TSN3, NHL.TV)
Flyers:Host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)