That miserable scoring drought that Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier was mired in earlier all of a sudden seems like a distant memory.

In their latest must-win game, Couturier had arguably his best performance of the season, posting two goals and an assist in leading the Flyers to a 7-1 statement win over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday at Canada Life Centre. Couturier’s first-period goal upped the Flyers’ lead to 3-1, and midway through the second, his work behind the net helped Travis Sanheim give the Flyers a commanding 4-1 lead.

In the third period, after a puck squirted out to him from the corner, Couturier froze Eric Comrie before lifting a backhand over the goalie at 6:23 to make it a 6-1 cushion. For Couturier, who went 31 games without a goal from Dec. 7 to Feb. 28, it was his second two-goal game of the season and first since the Flyers’ home opener against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 13.

It wasn’t just his offense, either. Couturier led all Flyers forwards with 3:14 of ice time short-handed, helping them go a perfect 3-for-3. The Flyers entered the game just 9-for-16 on the penalty kill in their previous six games, needing a bounce-back effort. Couturier also went 8-for-12 in the faceoff circle.

The win keeps the Flyers two points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who won 5-2 in Montreal on Saturday, for third place in the Metropolitan Division and a guaranteed playoff berth. The New York Islanders and Washington Capitals are three points back. All four teams have two games remaining, with the Flyers hosting the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday and the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.

If the Blue Jackets lose to the Boston Bruins on Sunday in any fashion, the Flyers would be able to clinch a playoff spot on Monday at home against a first-place Carolina team that has already started resting some of its players. If they get three out of a possible four points in their final two games, they’ll qualify regardless of what the Blue Jackets do.

Fourth line key

Rick Tocchet made one change to the lineup ahead of the game, slotting Garnet Hathaway onto the fourth line after the winger had been a healthy scratch in the last three games. Alex Bump, scoreless in his last three games, came out, while Denver Barkey skated with Noah Cates and Matvei Michkov.

It worked. The fourth line of Hathaway, Couturier and Luke Glendening set the tone on the first shift of the game. Getting the start — reflecting how much Tocchet trusts them — the fourth line got the puck deep into the offensive zone, and Glendening even had a chance on the backhand from in tight.

On Couturier’s goal, the three of them battled down low before Couturier came away with the puck, cut toward the net and whipped a shot past Connor Hellebuyck’s short side to make the score 3-1 at 8:49 of the first period.

They weren’t done. In the second period, Couturier bounced a pass to Rasmus Ristolainen at the point and joined Hathaway at the front of the net. They helped screen Hellebuyck as Sanheim blasted a shot from up high, which deflected in off of a defending Neal Pionk to give the Flyers a 4-1 lead. That score was particularly important, as the Jets had been spending shift after shift pressuring in the Flyers’ zone for much of the period.

Remarkably, a line that provided the Flyers almost nothing for the first half of the season has become one of its most reliable, whether it’s Hathaway or Carl Grundstrom playing with Couturier and Glendening.

Vladar responds after getting pulled

Dan Vladar, who was pulled in the second period of Thursday’s loss in Detroit after allowing four goals on eight shots, gave up a bad one to Haydn Fleury in the first period on Saturday, tying the score at 1-1. Vladar couldn’t handle a routine shot from Cole Koepke, allowing Fleury an easy rebound conversion at 6:57.

Not a great beginning.

Yet, after that, he locked it down. Vladar made several key saves in the first when it was still a tight game, stopping Dylan DeMelo cutting to the net alone with six minutes remaining, preserving the Flyers’ 3-1 lead. A couple of minutes later, it was Koepke again, who was denied cutting to the net, and then moments later, Vladar got his right pad on an attempt from close range by the dangerous Kyle Connor.

The Jets, trailing by two to start the second, pressured the Flyers for much of the first half of the middle frame, but couldn’t squeeze another one through Vladar, who started his fifth straight game and 50th of the season. He ended the night with 27 saves and will almost certainly be back in on Monday against the Hurricanes, too.

Struggling players make an impact

With everything that’s been happening lately, it’s easy to forget that coming into the game, Cates was the Flyers’ co-leader in points with 17 since the Olympic break. But he hadn’t had much of an impact lately, with no goals and two assists in his last seven games.

That changed against the Jets. Cates set up Michkov for a first-period snipe that upped the Flyers’ lead to 2-1, and scored a short-handed goal late in the second period to pad the Flyers’ lead to 5-1 after two. It was his first three-point game since Nov. 22.

Travis Konecny had a rough outing against the Red Wings and entered the game with just one assist in his last four games, but he managed to make the prettiest play of the night. In the first period, it was Konecny curling a blind, no-look pass down low to Porter Martone, who easily swiped in his third goal at 1:17 of the first, opening the scoring.

M&M boys stay hot

What else can be said about Martone? The rookie had just one more shot on goal after his first-period score, but he’s still going at a point-per-game pace through his first seven NHL games (3 goals, 4 assists). It’s a credit to Martone that even when he’s not at his best — and he and his line spent much of the game against the Jets in their own end — he still finds a way to impact the game in some form. His play in the defensive zone, stripping Adam Lowry, eventually helped to generate his early score.

Michkov’s first-period goal was a thing of beauty. His perfectly placed wrist shot past Hellebuyck’s glove came just one minute and 27 seconds after the Jets had tied it up. Michkov earned a secondary assist on Nick Seeler’s goal at 13:32 that capped the scoring, giving him 18 points (5 goals, 13 assists) since the break, second over that span behind only Cates’ 20 (8 goals, 12 assists). Just as importantly, Michkov, who took a terrible penalty in the first period on Thursday in Detroit, stayed out of the box.