Laughton leads Flyers past Capitals
Toronto
Scott Laughton had two goals and an assist to help the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Washington Capitals 3-1 on Thursday.
Travis Sanheim also scored and Brian Elliott stopped 16 shots to keep the Flyers rolling as one of the hottest teams in the NHL. The Flyers won nine straight games before losing the final one before the COVID-19 shutdown. The Flyers have resumed the season with wins over Boston and the Capitals in the NHL's playoff seeding round and can't finish any worse than second in the Eastern Conference.
The Flyers play Tampa Bay on Saturday. The winner will earn the top seed in the East.
Laughton gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead in the first period after capitalizing on a turnover, beating Braden Holtby. Laughton scored again to make it 3-0 in the third.
Kevin Hayes had three assists for the Flyers for his first career three-point playoff game, and Travis Konecny had two assists.
"Great game (at)NHLFlyers. Our depth is really showing," retired Flyers great Eric Lindros tweeted.
Travis Boyd scored for the Capitals on a deflection in the third to make it 3-1.
Golden Knights 6, Blues 4: Mark Stone scored the go-ahead goal on a deflection with less than seven minutes left, and Vegas took a big step toward clinching the top seed in the Western Conference by beating St. Louis in round-robin play. Vegas would be the West's No. 1 seed with a win against Colorado on Saturday. Despite leading the conference when the NHL season was shut down in March, defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis can finish no higher than third and needs to beat Dallas on Sunday to avoid the No. 4 seed. The Golden Knights dominated the Blues in each team's second round-robin game, outshooting them 38-17. St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington was sharp early and made 32 saves but wound up...