Laughton's Hat Trick Plus One Carries Flyers to Win Over Wings

Scott Laughton had himself at night at the Wells Fargo Center, scoring all four of the Flyers’ goals in a pretty comfortable win over Detroit. In the process, Laughton placed himself in some pretty heady company. Any time you make Flyers history and join a list with the likes of Eric Lindros, John LeClair and Tim Kerr, you’ve done something special.

Elsewhere, we continue our look back at the best games of the 2024 Phillies season and check in on Paul George and Joel Embiid. Happy Friday…it’s 5:00 somewhere.

In the email today:

• 🚨 Flyers Leave It Late, Roll Red Wings Behind Laughton Four-Goal Game

• ⚾ Top Phillies Games of 2024 - No. 11

• 🏀 Paul George Goes Public With Support for Joel Embiid

  • 📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

  • 📊 Poll

  • 🔗 Links

  • 📺 Coming Up

Many of our readers are too young to remember the brief but emotional time when the Flyers and the Red Wings played for the Stanley Cup.

The Flyers got swept. During the series, their head coach accused his team of going through “a choking situation.” It wasn’t great!

That series took place over a generation ago. But it’s still nice to see the Flyers put it on the Red Wings any chance they get.

Scott Laughton scored all four of the Flyers goals, with three of them coming in the third period.

Like their win Tuesday night in Columbus, the Flyers mostly controlled the play through most of the first two and a half periods. They led 2-0 with 3:53 left when Detroit’s Ben Chiarot scored to cut the lead in half and set up a nervy finish.

Not to pour cold water on Laughton’s achievement — four goals in a game is a spectacular feat. But see if you notice something about the last two he got.

Yup, two empty-net goals for Laughton in less than a minute turned his pretty impressive two-goal game into something twice as impactful, but maybe not all that much more impressive.

Aleksei Kolosov was exceptional in the net for the Flyers, stopping 25 of 26 shots and keeping the Red Wings at bay for more than 55 game minutes before conceding the Chiarot goal late.

Matvei Michkov had a rare night without a point, but came pretty close to a highlight-reel tally.

The win pulled the Flyers back to two games over .500. The longer this goes on, the easier it gets to believe that just maybe the Orange and Black can get to the postseason.

The Flyers play in Minnesota Saturday afternoon against the Western Conference leaders. We will see if they are ready for the step up in weight class after the past two walkovers.

On Pattison's countdown of the 15 best Phillies games of 2024 continues with a 4-3 victory over the Padres on June 18.

15) April 16, 2024 - Ranger Suarez throws a complete game shutout

14) September 14, 2024 - The Cal Stevenson game

13) May 18, 2024 - Kody Clemens ninth-inning home run

12) July 9, 2024 - Phillies clobber Dodgers, 10-1, in first game of series sweep

11) June 18, 2024 - Nick Castellanos walk-off double against Padres

Nick Castellanos led all of baseball in 2024 with four walk-off hits. Possibly the most thrilling of those walk-offs occurred in mid-June in Philadelphia against the Padres.

The three-game Padres series took place just after the Phils' disappointing 3-5 road trip to London, Boston, and Baltimore. The team's party bus was leaking a little oil. A few home games against San Diego, however, proved to be exactly what the Phillies needed to get back on track.

The first game was an easy W, with Kyle Schwarber hitting two home runs and Cristopher Sanchez holding the Friars to one run over seven innings.

But in the second game, the Phillies trailed 3-2 entering the ninth. Facing Padres reliever Robert Suarez (of Bedlam at the Bank fame), Bryce Harper led off the inning with a base hit. Two more singles, from Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott, scored Harper to tie the game at three.

Castellanos then lined a double to right field, completing the comeback.

The hit was Casty's fourth of the night, and it salvaged a game where the Phils left 12 runners on base over the first eight innings.

“We’re a really good team, and in order to beat us, you’ve got to put us away with all 27 outs,” said Castellanos after the game. “Considering I haven’t had the best year, to be able to come through when the team needs it feels good.”

Before June 18, Castellanos hit .209/.266/.356 (.622 OPS) with nine home runs in 72 games.

From June 18 on, he hit .293/.349/.494 (.843 OPS) with 14 home runs in 90 games.

It has been an exceptionally quiet week for the Sixers. Their tepid exit from NBA Cup left the Sixers idle since Sunday night’s solid win in Chicago.

The time off allowed players to heal up and prepare for a crucial five-game stretch which has the Sixers playing four games against teams at or below .500.

Apparently, the time off also provided players with some time for introspection and reflection. Paul George used the moment to voice his support for and encouragement of Joel Embiid.

Quite obviously, given George’s injury history, he might be the Sixer best positioned to advise Embiid on how to deal with what is and what could still be.

• Embiid’s Recent Mental Struggles: Embiid admitted to ESPN that he has been battling depression and finds his current situation challenging.

• Paul George's Take:

  • George, having dealt with his own injuries, offered perspective on Embiid.

  • “I 100% understand where he comes from…he’s been so dominant on the floor, when something is not there physically, you notice it. But again, every case is different,” George noted.

  • George highlighted the difficulty of adapting to physical limitations while striving to return to peak performance.

The words George offered which Sixers fans have to hope Embiid heard loud and clear were these: “You have no choice. It’s a no-choice type of thing…you’ll figure it out.”

If the Sixers are going to save this foundering season, Embiid needs to figure it out. Quickly.

📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

On December 13, 2020, Jalen Hurts made his first start as a Philadelphia Eagle.

Hurts completed 17 of 30 passes for 167 yards and a TD in a 24-21 win over the Saints. He also ran the ball 18 times for 106 yards.

📊 Poll

Results from Thursday:

Go Birds

🔗 Links

• 🌧️ Rams/49ers was a sloppy mess that set offensive football back decades.

• 💰️ Those levelheaded Yankees fans are probably feeling a lot better that Juan Soto says the Yankees tried hard to sign him.

• 🎟️ A Lions fan got his season tickets revoked (for life!) after getting into it with Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.

• 🏆️ Penn State’s Tyler Warren was named college football’s best tight end this season.

📺 Coming Up

Games before our next send.

Friday, December 13, 2024

• Pacers at Sixers, 7:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

Saturday, December 14, 2024

• Flyers at Wild, 2:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

Sunday, December 15, 2024

• Steelers at Eagles, 4:25 p.m. (FOX)

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.

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