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Takeaways: Flyers steamroll Winnipeg 7-1 to maintain Metro playoff spot

Philadelphia might be in a playoff spot, but don’t tell them that. They destroyed Winnipeg 7-1 on Saturday night, playing like a team still chasing and not the one being chased.

Posted on by Jason MacNeil
Apr 11, 2026; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers forward Matvei Michov (39) is congratulated by his teammates on his goal against the Winnipeg Jets during the first period at Canada Life Centre. Mandatory Credit: Terrence Lee-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Flyers might be the hunted, but try telling them that! Erasing the loss to Detroit on Thursday, Philadelphia trounced the Winnipeg Jets 7-1 on Saturday night, keeping their third seeding in the Metropolitan Division. And control of their own destiny.

The basics

First period: 1:17- Porter Martone (Travis Konecny), 6:57- Haydn Fleury (Cole Koepke, Jonathan Toews), 8:24- Matvei Michkov (Noah Cates, Denver Barkey), 8:49- Sean Couturier (Unassisted)
Second period: 11:41- Travis Sanheim (Rasmus Ristolainen, Sean Couturier), 19:28- Noah Cates (Christian Dvorak, Rasmus Ristolainen) (SHG)
Third period: 6:23- Sean Couturier (Unassisted), 13:32- NIck Seeler (Noah Cates, Matvei Michkov)
SOG: 23 (PHI) – 29 (WPG)

Some takeaways

One more W for the road

With a record of 22-14-4 away from Xfinity Mobile Arena, the Flyers looked to wrap up the regular season road portion on a happy note. And for the opening shifts, Philadelphia was pouring it on, driving hard to the net and making life a living hell for Winnipeg regardless of the line that was out. The Flyers relied on sticking to their structure, not getting into a game of trading odd-man chances, and enabling their five-on-five play to drive their play.

The bench was also rolling with all four lines opting for quick shifts when they could. After 40 minutes there was nobody truly gassed from being overused. At least among the forwards. Among the six defensemen, Travis Sanheim was putting up another warhorse-esque evening with nearly 20 minutes through two periods (19:29).

As if a large lead wasn’t enough, Sean Couturier got his second of the night, waiting out the Winnipeg goalie to bury it up high for a 6-1 lead. His second unassisted tally to boot!

Vladar starts iffy but is gold rest of the way

After a so-so effort against Detroit Thursday night (although not really given much support from anyone), Philadelphia goaltender Dan Vladar got the nod against the Jets. Looking for his twentieth-eighth victory, and going up against Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck. Vladar made a great save early against Dylan Demelo after the Flyers had the opening quartet of shots. Unfortunately, he gave up a juicy rebound on a long shot and Winnipeg quickly tied things up 1-1. But after that, the goaltender settled down a lot, resembling the goaltender he’s been most of the year, and enabling the Flyers to get back on the proverbial horse and stick to their gameplan.

The second period was more of the same, with one stretch seeing the Jets coming on but the Flyers able to bend but not break. Vladar also managed to get some key stoppages, including one glove save with under six minutes to go that saw the Flyers scrambling around somewhat. In short, Vladar shook off what could’ve been an iffy start and was big when he needed to be. He made some stops in the third also, but with just over 12 minutes left, it was essentially garbage time with a five-goal cushion.

Zegras line with plenty of hiccups

The Flyers only flaw on this night might have been how off the trio of Trevor Zegras, Owen Tippett, and Tyson Foerster looked. The three didn’t have many great chances and had an incredibly difficult time trying to make simple clears, particularly when they were near inches or a foot from getting it out. Tippett was guilty of that a handful of times while Zegras — still getting used to being a center — had more time in his own end than Winnipeg’s. The eye test and the underlying metrics demonstrated it was a rough night on the scoresheet and in terms of generating anything other than giveaways.

Power play doesn’t connect but isn’t costly

Philadelphia nearly made it 4-1 on a delayed penalty to Winnipeg with passing usually seen on a video game. The Flyers didn’t score on their power play either, but thankfully didn’t give the Jets an easy short-handed goal. But like they did all period, Philadelphia just kept coming. They ended the period with 30 shot attempts, while also dominating the faceoff circle winning two-thirds of the 21 draws.

Late in the third the Flyers got another power play chance. They had Couturier on the ice for a possible hat trick, and Hathaway on the second unit with Michkov and Martone. No dice, but who cared at this point?

Konecny, Martone magical

The Flyers got out of the gate quickly. A great first shift by the line of Travis Konecny, Christian Dvorak, and Porter Martone saw Konecny deliver a good hit, Martone have a great takeaway, and Konecny feeding Porter with a lovely pass to give the Flyers an early 1-0 lead. It marked Martone’s third goal (and seventh point) since arriving on the scene.

They’ve spent seven games together, but the way they’re reading each other you’d swear Konecny and Martone had nearly a few season to find such sweet synergy. Meanwhile, Dvorak almost made it a three-goal cushion for Philadelphia but his the rebound he whacked at hit the post. And the rookie made a number of high-end, smart plays getting the puck out of harm’s way.

Michkov stellar in both ends

Aside from his goal, Michkov was great with and without the puck. His neutral zone play was solid, waiting the extra second to make a cross ice pass to another Flyer and not simply hoping a Flyer was there. On the boards he also won more than his share of one-on-one battles. And Michkov also was helped by having another young winger in Denver Barkey to feed off of.

Barkey in, Hathaway in

The first visible lineup change was during the anthems, when Garnet Hathaway was on the ice with Sean Couturier and Luke Glendening. Hathaway, who played last on April 3 (a 4-1 win over the Islanders), might have been a viable option considering Winnipeg’s reputation for being a bigger, heavier team. However, the fourth line provided a bit of goal-scoring. Winning a battle in Winnipeg’s end, Couturier curled around and roofed a wrister high on Hellebuyck to make it 3-1.

It was the second goal in 25 seconds after Matvei Michkov lasered a shot by the Jets keeper, enabling Philadelphia to regain the lead. It was a great start for the winger who faced criticism for his previous game (alongside other Flyers). The three goals in the first was the only time this season Hellebuyck allowed three in the opening frame.

The fourth line also put a huge goal up in the second thanks to the great work of Couturier and Hathaway. The duo got the puck into Winnipeg’s zone for a little bit of offensive zone time after the Jets were surging. With great body positioning, Couturier protected the puck and sent it back to Travis Sanheim. Sanheim’s shot found its way through traffic and Hellebuyck for a 4-1 lead.

Discipline returns…mostly

Discipline proved to be a major miscue the other night, one that head coach Rick Tocchet gnawed on somewhat post-game. Without naming names, it was evident he wasn’t pleased with the dumb infractions a few Flyers took. In the first period, Philadelphia executed extremely well five-on-five, not getting into a special teams fiasco that destroyed them against Detroit. Following a great save by Vladar on a shift that was a bit more firewagon hockey than the Flyers would like, Trevor Zegras took a minor, giving Winnipeg its first power play. Just after the power play, which was killed, Vladar made himself big and stoned the Jets on a prime chance by Kyle Connor. Zegras took another boneheaded penalty early in the third, just inside Winnipeg’s zone. Philadelphia killed that one also, stifling any momentum the Jets might have gained from it.

Late in the second, Nick Seeler took a minor. But even that ended up going Philadelphia’s way. Winnipeg’s Jonathan Toews broke his stick. The Flyers took the puck up the other end and Noah Cates beat Hellebuyck high, making it a 5-1 lead after 40 minutes.

The fifth goal also marked the end for Hellebuyck on the night, who was replaced by Eric Comrie to start the third period.

Nick Seeler is getting hot

After potting an empty netter against New Jersey earlier in the week, defenseman Nick Seeler scored again, this time beating Comrie clean to make it 7-1. That’s two goals in three games for the third-pairing defender, putting an exclamation point on this affair.

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