Scott Laughton Scores Four Goals as Flyers Take Down Red Wings

Prior to this game, Scott Laughton had three goals in the 29 games he’s played this season. After game number 30 he has seven.

This win wasn’t just dominant, it was historic. Scott Laughton became the first Flyer since John LeClair in 2002 to score four goals in a game. He would be the only Flyer to score as Philly took down the Red Wings 4-1.

Laughton has not been much of a factor for the Flyers this season, recording only 10 points prior to this game, but the alternate captain has contributed to the team in other ways. Laughton is the second longest-tenured Flyer behind captain Sean Couturier and has been a positive veteran presence for this team for years now, even as his productivity has decreased. On a team that is focusing on its young and exciting talent, it’s really special to see a player who’s truly seen everything with this team earn such an honor.

The game started off as a defensive showcase between Philly goalie Aleksei Kolosov and Detroit goalie Cam Talbot. Laughton broke that trend halfway through the second period, where he capped off a breakaway with a violent slapshot to put the Flyers up 1-0. This goal seemed to have been Laughton’s way of getting out some frustration, as he hadn’t scored a goal in over two weeks.

After this, the floodgates seemed to open. The Red Wings had a power play early in the third period that could have allowed them to tie the game. The Flyers’ penalty kill, usually very strong, had been struggling lately as the team was taking on a lot of penalties. Travis Konecny is clearly doing everything he can to change that, as he stole the pic away from Detroit and took it the length of the ice before finding Laughton right in front of the net for a shorthanded goal. This goal was also the 100th in Laughton’s career, adding an even more special meaning to his performance.

The Red Wings were aggressive as the final minutes were coming to a close, keeping the puck in the Flyers’ zone for long periods of time while Philly struggled to clear the puck. This eventually resulted in a goal from Ben Chiarot, bringing the score to 2-1.

After this, Detroit would pull Talbot with about 90 seconds left in a last-ditch effort to send the game to overtime. Unfortunately for them, this is where Scott Laughton would make his history. After Noah Cates won a face-off in the Flyers’s zone the puck made its way to Laughton for his second career hat trick.

Less than a minute later, Laughton was staring down another empty net with the puck on his stick. Being the ultimate teammate that he is, he passed the puck to Garnet Hathaway, who was skating along with him. Hathaway immediately gave the puck back to Laughton, much more content to receive an assist from a player with a four-goal game. This would set the score at 4-1, where it would stay until the final buzzer.

Lost in the haze of Laughton’s unreal performance was Aleksei Kolosov, who saved 25 of 26 shots and played spectacularly in the final minutes of the game as Detroit was turning up the offensive pressure in an attempt to tie the game. Kolosov is making a compelling argument for why he should be the backup goalie over Ivan Fedotov, leaving the Flyers front office with a difficult decision that will have to be made soon.

The Flyers’ next game will be against the Wild in Minnesota at 2:00 pm EST. The game can be watched on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

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Bo Lynett

Bo has been a fan of Philly sports his whole life and has spent the entirety of his four years at Colgate University working to start a career in sports media. Double majoring in Economics and Film & Media Studies gave him the opportunity to study both the financial/ analytical and broadcasting/ production sides of the sports world. Outside of the classroom, he’s worked as a director and producer for Colgate’s athletic events streamed on ESPN+ and a writer for the Colgate Athletic Website. Through all of this, however, it was his love of Philly sports that drove him to this career.