‘It was an awesome night’ — Laughton scores all 4 goals in Flyers’ win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Scott Laughton and Aleksei Kolosov spearheaded a 4-1 win for the Flyers over the Red Wings on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Laughton delivered all four goals and Kolosov was strong in net.

The Flyers (14-12-4) won their second straight 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 off one of its best performances of the season, a 5-3 win Tuesday night over the Blue Jackets.

After Detroit trimmed the Flyers’ lead to 2-1, Laughton scored an empty-netter to give himself a hat trick. He added a second empty-netter for good measure. The 30-year-old became the first Flyer to score four goals in a game since John LeClair did it in October 2002.

“Really happy for him,” Sean Couturier said. “He’s probably one of the best teammates you can have around.”

Laughton is a beloved Flyer who has been in the organization since 2012. He received a lengthy standing ovation from his teammates in the locker room after the game.

“It was a pretty electric in here,” Laughton said. “We’re a close group and we celebrate the wins. A good feeling tonight, for sure. Kind of get my game going hopefully offensively. It was an awesome night.”

Similar to the Flyers, the Red Wings (11-14-4) have played a lot of close games, with 10 of their 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 multiple times.

“To get the scoring chances he got in the second half of that third period and how he stood in there,” Tortorella said. “He was really good.”

The Red Wings got one past him with 3:53 minutes left in the game.

Coming in, Kolosov 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 battles hard, he fights for a lot of pucks,” Couturier said. “He’s really athletic and never quits on pucks.”

More: Tortorella lays out Flyers’ goalie depth chart

Detroit netminder Cam Talbot was excellent, stopping 32 of the Flyers’ 34 shots.

Before Laughton cracked him with a breakaway windup and blast in the second period, Talbot had just made three excellent saves to keep the game scoreless. He robbed Matvei Michkov with a glove stop. Then, in a 16-second span, he denied a 2-on-1 look for Joel Farabee and a Couturier breakaway.

So Laughton unloaded a slap shot.

“Coots has a breakaway, a 2-on-1 Beezer misses; I think Laughts said, ‘The hell with his, I am just going to drive this thing,'” Tortorella said. “And that’s what he did. For a Scotty Laughton, you always hope good things happen for him. He has worked so hard. It’s good and it’s a big reason why we win the game, obviously.”

By second intermission, the Flyers had put 30 shots on Talbot.

In the third period, Laughton struck again. He recorded his NHL-leading 17th shorthanded point since the 2022-23 season with a goal off a feed from Travis Konecny. Those two make up a dangerous duo on the penalty kill.

“Scotty’s one of those guys that it doesn’t matter where he is in the lineup or what his job is, he’s always a good spirit at the rink,” Konecny said. “He never complains about anything, he just goes and puts his head down and does what he has to do. I think when he’s called upon for offense, he has got a lot of skill.”

The Flyers went on the PK right after the opening draw of the third period. Matvei Michkov was given a roughing penalty after getting into it with Alex DeBrincat. It has become more and more clear that Michov plays with an edge.

• Michkov had his season-best five-game point streak snapped. The 20-year-old winger had three goals and seven assists over the run.

On a delayed Red Wings penalty in the second period, Michkov nearly pulled off “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 was the first time Michkov didn’t record a point since Nov. 29. He entered as a point-per-game player on the season with 11 goals and 16 assists through 27 games.

• Emil Andrae was a healthy scratch as Egor Zamula drew into the lineup and played alongside Rasmus Ristolainen.

The 22-year-old Andrae has bolstered the Flyers’ defense. But over the last two games, he was a minus-3 and took a heavy hit.

“I think Andrae has fought it,” Tortorella said at morning skate. “It has been a little bit of a struggle with the puck, it has been a struggle without the puck. We’ve got to be careful when we’re developing a guy like that, he comes in here like gangbusters.”

• The Flyers practice Friday at noon ET before flying to St. Paul, Minnesota for a matchup Saturday with the Wild (2 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

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