PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Flyers center Scott Laughton felt a huge sense of pride when his second goal of the game gave him 100 in his career.
Laughton had another major milestone in sight — he added two empty-net goals to tie Philadelphia’s team record of four goals in a game in a 4-1 victory over Detroit on Thursday night.
“Kind of get my game going, hopefully,” Laughton said. “It was an awesome night.”
After scoring just once in his previous 25 games, Laughton had his second career hat trick and became the first Flyers player to score four goals since John LeClair in 2002.
He’s the 10th Flyers player to score four goals in a game and it’s the 17th time a player scored four goals.
“For Scotty Laughton, you always hope good things happen for him,” coach John Tortorella said. “He works so hard. He’s the reason we won the game.”
Laughton was greeted by a standing ovation by his teammates inside the locker room who then mobbed him in celebration. They then presented him with a pro wrestling championship belt stamped with the Flyers logo.
The 30-year-old Laughton, who made his NHL debut with the Flyers in January 2013, scored the first two goals the hard way.
He opened the scoring in the second period with a breakaway goal on a slap shot from the left circle. He added a short-handed goal in the third, tipping a pass from Travis Konecny as he crashed into the crease.
Laughton has been a steady presence for the Flyers for more than a decade but never scored more than 18 goals in a season. He had just three goals this season for a Flyers team that seems poised to finally emerge from a lengthy rebuild and compete for their first playoff berth since 2020.
His first trick was Feb. 7, 2021 against Washington.
“I think 100 goals, you don’t look at it really, but I’ve been in the league for a long time and it’s hard to score goals in this league,” Laughton said. “To score 100, it’s pretty cool to me, pretty special. I know it’s not much compared to some guys, but it feels pretty cool to get that.”
His last two goals came on the empty-netters over the final 70 seconds of the game.
“It’s pretty cool,” Laughton said. “Two empty-netters but I know they all count.”
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