PHILADELPHIA _ Scott Laughton has been one of the most unheralded Flyers, a hardworking forward who plays with an edge, does a lot of little things well, but rarely is in the spotlight.
Saturday afternoon was an exception.
"He came out flying," right winger Tyler Pitlick said.
Laughton, a 25-year-old center, scored a pair of early goals as he sparked the surging Flyers past Winnipeg, 4-2, at the Wells Fargo Center.
"He's a smart player, and I think when he plays with a little edge, a little bite, a little meanness to his game _ talking to the opposition a little bit _ that's when he's at his best," coach Alain Vigneault said. "He's emotionally invested into the game. And tonight he was, right from the start."
The Flyers, on a 13-5-2 run since Jan. 7, moved to within three points of the first-place Pittsburgh Penguins in the Metropolitan Division.
"You've just got to get to the dance; it doesn't matter which seed you're in," said veteran defenseman Justin Braun, who missed the previous game with the flu and had the third three-assist performance of his career _ and second in the last two weeks. "We want to keep driving ... but you don't worry about that right now. You just have to look at the next game and take care of that."
Winnipeg got to within 3-2 on Patrick Laine's power-play goal, a one-time tracer from the left circle with 17 minutes left in regulation.
After that, the Flyers dominated and made it 4-2 on Pitlick's goal with 10:26 to go. The Flyers outshot the Jets, 14-4, in the final period.
"After they made it 3-2 on their power-play goal, we played the best we did all night," coach Alain Vigneault said. "When the game was on the line, we played the right way. ... We didn't get tight. We played (hard) and were on our toes, and that's what you need. We made some real good plays with the puck."
With about 13 minutes remaining, Sean Couturier and his linemates, on their best shift of the game, buzzed around the Winnipeg net and did everything but score. Couturier had the best chance but hit the left post.
"Those three veteran players are playing the way you have to play to win, and win against good opponents in tight games," Vigneault said about Couturier and linemates Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek.
A short time after the line's dominating shift, the two-goal cushion was restored. Pitlick (four hits, four shots, plus-3) made it 4-2 by scoring his seventh goal with 10:26 left. Robert Hagg's shot was deflected by Pitlick and then caromed off defenseman Josh Morrissey and into the net.
It gave the Flyers' bottom-two lines three of the team's four goals.
"I thought we did a better job of closing gaps and not giving them as much space in the third," said Laughton after finishing with two goals, seven shots (three on goal), three blocks, and six wins in 10 faceoff draws.
Couturier, who has 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in his last 19 games, and Morrissey exchanged goals in the second period, which ended with the Flyers ahead, 3-1.
Laughton scored off the rush on his initial goal, taking a perfect feed from Ivan Provorov and whipping a left-circle shot into the right corner with 17:54 left in the first.
About seven minutes later, with the Flyers on a three-on-one rush after a penalty expired to Couturier, Laughton made it 2-0 for the fifth multi-goal game of his career. It gave him 12 goals, equaling his career high with 20 games remaining.
On his second goal, Laughton was trying to feed Pitlick on the doorstep.
"We just tried to create some space and throw it back-door," Laughton said of a goal that trickled past goalie Connor Hellebuyck, "and lucky enough, it went in."
The victory gave the Flyers a 21-5-4 record at home, where they play their next two games: Tuesday against San Jose and Friday against the New York Rangers.
