"I didn't have to do much," Simmonds said. ". . . I just screamed for the back door and it was an empty net."
The goal made the Flyers 3 for 6 on the power play. Winnipeg was 0 for 4.
A little over two minutes earlier, Schenn had scored the equalizer, one-timing Jake Voracek's pass past Ondrej Pavelec. Voracek had three assists, giving him 12 points in the last five games.
The Flyers, who got an empty-net goal from Zac Rinaldo (12 hits), had been 0-10 when trailing or tied after 40 minutes.
"We just said in the second intermission, we have to be able to thrive in situations like this," Schenn said after his three-point game.
Left winger Scott Hartnell made a surprising return to the lineup. On Thursday, general manager Paul Holmgren said Hartnell would return in five to seven days. But a 5-2 loss to lowly Florida later Thursday apparently expedited Hartnell's healing. He was on the top line with Voracek and Claude Giroux.
The first period was, in a word, bizarre.
In the first half of the period, the Jets outshot the Flyers, 12-1, and took a 1-0 lead on Evander Kane's goal just 4 minutes, 48 seconds after the opening faceoff. Nik Antropov skated behind the net as if he was going to attempt a wraparound, causing goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to slide over toward the left post. But Antropov put on the brakes and made a deft pass to a wide-open Kane, who knocked the puck into the unprotected right side.
Most of the Flyers said Simmonds' fight with Chris Thorburn midway through the first period was their wake-up call.
"It brought some pop to the game at that point," coach Peter Laviolette said.
In the second half of the first period, the Flyers outshot Winnipeg, 16-0, and tied the score as Schenn tapped in a rebound after Danny Briere knocked the puck loose with 4:42 left in the session. Briere later left the game after getting hit in the mouth with a stick - he said he was OK to play - but returned to action and finished with just 8:43 of playing time.
After a Schenn turnover, Olli Jokinen took a pass from Blake Wheeler and scored on a spin-around shot from the right circle, putting the puck through Bryzgalov's legs after 2:34 of the second period.
Alexander Burmistrov gave the Jets a 3-1 lead with 8:47 left in the second, redirecting a shot taken by Grant Clitsome.
Giroux sliced the deficit to 3-2, connecting from the high slot on a five-on-three power play with 5:36 left in the second.
Hartnell, playing in his first game since he broke his left foot in New Jersey on Jan. 22, managed five shots in 14:54, but not surprisingly he seemed tentative at times.
Before the game, Laviolette said he would monitor Hartnell's minutes, noting "there is always a little bit of rust you try to shake off."
"Well I don't know why he would say something stupid like that," cracked a smiling Hartnell. "No, I feel a little rusty, but I think the timing and stuff will come. I told G [Giroux] and Jake they have been playing so good I just wanted to get them the puck and head to the front of the net. That's where I make a living."
Hartnell was "very noticeable for us," Laviolette said. "He was skating, he was physical, and he was agitated at times."
The Flyers (9-10-1), who killed a late penalty to Braydon Coburn, will try to get to .500 Monday against the sizzling James van Riemsdyk and visiting Toronto.
Contact Sam Carchidi at scarchidi@phillynews.com. Follow on Twitter @BroadStBull.
