Flyers rout Jets 7–1
The Philadelphia Flyers demolished the Winnipeg Jets 7–1 and now return home with a chance to end a five-year playoff drought after a dominant performance. ( )
Philadelphia beat Winnipeg 7-1 on Saturday night, moving within two home games of its first playoff berth since 2020. (apnews.com) Sean Couturier scored twice and added an assist, Noah Cates had a short-handed goal and two assists, and Dan Vladar stopped 27 shots in Winnipeg. Matvei Michkov, Porter Martone, Travis Sanheim and Nick Seeler also scored. (espn.com) Connor Hellebuyck gave up five goals on 20 shots before Winnipeg pulled him for the third period, and backup Eric Comrie allowed goals on his first two shots against. The Jets had entered on a three-game winning streak. (espn.com) The win pushed Philadelphia to 94 points and kept it in third place in the Metropolitan Division, ahead of Detroit, the New York Islanders and Columbus in a crowded Eastern Conference race. NHL standings listed the Flyers at 40-27-12 before Saturday; the win added two points with two games left. (nhl.com) Philadelphia has gone 16-6-1 since Feb. 26 and has allowed 2.39 goals per game in that stretch under coach Rick Tocchet. The Flyers have lost back-to-back games only once during that run. (nbcphiladelphia.com) Tocchet was hired on May 14, 2025, as the 25th head coach in franchise history after the Flyers missed the playoffs for a fifth straight season in 2024-25. The club’s last playoff appearance came in the 2019-20 season. (nhl.com, nhl.com) The Flyers close the regular season at home on Monday, April 13, against the Carolina Hurricanes and on Tuesday, April 14, against the Montreal Canadiens. Their home arena has been called Xfinity Mobile Arena since September 2025. (nhl.com, xfinitymobilearena.com) Winnipeg fell to 35-32-12 and remained on the edge of the Western Conference wild-card chase. The Jets visit the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday, while Philadelphia heads home with its clearest opening in six years. (apnews.com, espn.com)
