WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Maybe the Flyers had a little help.

On the 10th anniversary of the passing of Ed Snider, the Orange and Black took a major step toward securing a postseason spot with a 7-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets and an effort that would have made the team’s former owner proud.

The Flyers now have 94 points with two games remaining. Three points ahead of the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals for the third spot in the Metropolitan Division. Columbus beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-2, Washington bested the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-3, and New York lost, 3-0, to the Ottawa Senators, who clinched the last wild card in the Eastern Conference.

New York and Columbus each play on Sunday, with the Islanders hosting the Canadiens and the Blue Jackets hosting the Bruins. If the Flyers win on Monday against the Carolina Hurricanes, they will clinch Philly’s first postseason spot since the 2020 bubble, and fans will get a home game for the first time since 2018.

The Flyers took a 1-0 lead on Porter Martone’s first even-strength goal of his NHL career. And the rookie started it all by stripping Winnipeg’s captain, Adam Lowry, of the puck high in the Flyers’ zone as he was receiving a pass out of the corner.

Martone turned, took three steps, and passed it up to Travis Konecny, who had taken off after his heads-up play. Konecny carried the puck up and down the left boards before going one-on-one with Dylan Samberg, flipping it to himself over the stick of the left-shot defenseman as he cut to the middle.

The grizzled veteran thought about passing it back as Martone cut around, but faked and went to his forehand as he whipped it to Martone at the left post for the quick strike into the open net.

Martone right away pointed to Konecny, who let out a big reaction after the goal, 1 minute, 17 seconds into the game. Skating in his seventh game, Martone now has three goals and seven points.

The Jets tied it up less than six minutes later when Haydn Fleury knocked in a rebound on a shot from above the left circle by Cole Koepke. But, less than two minutes later, the Flyers didn’t just take the lead; they got some insurance.

Matvei Michkov gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead with his 18th of the year and second in April. Jamie Drysdale started the play when, facing a double-team, he was the first to track a dump-in and worked the puck up the boards to Denver Barkey. The winger, who was moved up to the third line with Michkov and Cates, with Garnet Hathaway being slotted back in on the fourth line, fed Noah Cates, who gained the blue line.

Cates then dished to Michkov on his left side, and the Russian winger carried it closer to the top of the left circle before sending the wrist shot past goalie Connor Hellebuyck. It looked like the puck deflected off the stick of defenseman Jacob Bryson as it whizzed past the glove of the 2026 Olympic gold medalist.

Twenty-five seconds later, Sean Couturier extended it to 3-1. Hathaway and Luke Glendening went two-on-three in the right corner of the offensive zone before Fleury came away with it. The captain was right there and knocked it away, took it out of his skates, started to cut to the middle, and shot the puck past Helleybuck from the right dot.

The goal is Couturier’s 11th of the year and sixth since the Olympic break — and he wasn’t done yet.

But first, fighting for their own playoff lives, Winnipeg wasn’t backing down, and while the Jets had 23 shot attempts to the Flyers’ seven in the middle period, they only had 10 shots on goal to the Flyers’ seven. Regardless, they couldn’t beat Dan Vladař. He made several big-time stops, including robbing Vladislav Namestnikov on the doorstep less than three minutes into the frame.

After weathering the storm in their own end, the Flyers finally got some time in the offensive zone, and it quickly led to a 4-1 lead. Couturier worked the puck up the boards to Rasmus Ristolainen at the right point, and he fed it over to his defensive partner.

Sanheim got the pass, turned, and fired off a slap shot from the middle that may have nicked defenseman Neal Pionk in front before going through the wickets of Hellebuyck. Playing in his home province, the Manitoban, Sanheim now has 11 goals, setting a new career high.

Following a disastrous 1-for-4 spell against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, the Flyers’ penalty kill went 3 for 3 — and notched a goal. After Nick Seeler was called for tripping with under two minutes to go in the second period, Johnathan Toews got the puck at the Flyers’ blue line, but his stick broke in the process, and Ristolainen was able to move it up to Christian Dvorak.

The center settled the bouncing puck down before feeding it over to Noah Cates, who skated past the Jets to make it a two-on-one. Cates snapped the puck past his countryman with 32 seconds left in the period for his 18th of the season. With the assist, Dvorak now has 300 points in 613 NHL games.

In the third period, and with Hellebuyck chased, Couturier notched his second multi-goal game of the season; the other one was back on Oct. 13 against the Florida Panthers. The puck popped out of a pile in the left corner right to the wide open Couturier, and he made a nifty pump fake and lift on the backhand over Eric Comrie to give the Flyers a 6-1 lead.

Breakaways

Seeler scored short-side for the touchdown. ... Forwards Alex Bump, Garrett Wilson and Carl Grundström, and defenseman Noah Juulsen were healthy scratches.

Up next

The Flyers finish the regular season with a back-to-back at Xfinity Mobile Arena beginning on Monday against the Carolina Hurricanes before closing things out against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.

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