For the first few weeks, the leash was a long one. On October 29, headed into a game with the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov was second among forwards in time on ice per game at 19 minutes and 14 seconds. Only Travis Konecny, the Flyers’ best offensive player and one of their key penalty killers, had more.
But in that game in Boston, and for the next three, Michkov’s time on the bench increased. He stayed on the top power-play unit, where he’s done his best work, but saw his overall ice time reduced to just 14:41 per game. That includes a lengthy stint sitting and watching in the Flyers’ 2-1 win over St. Louis on Oct. 31, and lots of time between shifts in the second and third periods in Carolina on Tuesday in the 6-4 Flyers loss, too.
The writing was already on the wall that he might get pulled — John Tortorella even mentioned that possibility after the Blues game — so when the Flyers announced that Michkov wouldn’t be playing against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday and would be a healthy scratch, it wasn’t all that surprising to those who have been paying attention. Tortorella’s methods are what they are, and they’re not going to change for anyone.
The result was one of the Flyers’ most complete efforts of the season as they beat the Lightning in a shootout 2-1. Beyond the score, though, the Flyers looked much more like the team they were last season when their work ethic was their primary identity trait, they were opportunistic, and, while still lacking finish, were at least playing like a cohesive group.
The Flyers, 5-8-1, finished with 31 shots on goal, the first time they’ve reached 30-plus shots since the third game of the season in Edmonton (which also went to overtime). They weren’t rewarded as much as perhaps they deserved to be, but combined with a four-goal effort Tuesday in Carolina, there are at least some signs that they are starting to awaken from their offensive slumber. They deserved the 2 points Thursday — which were also keyed by surprise starting goalie Ivan Fedotov, who had to play after Aleksei Kolosov suffered a lower-body injury in the morning skate. Fedotov made 22 saves through overtime and denied both Lightning attempts in the shootout.
But the night will still be remembered mostly for Michkov taking in the game from the press box for the first time in his young career.
🔥 Tipp called game. 🔥#PHIvsTBL | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/6rgeBuibxn
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 8, 2024
Tortorella didn’t want to get into too much detail about Michkov before the game when speaking with reporters. But, really, he didn’t have to. He said his piece regarding the young, emerging player who has 10 points in his first 13 career games last week, going into detail about how valuable Michkov is to the future of the organization, but also that he’s got a ton to learn along the way and there are inevitably going to be speed bumps.
Michkov’s struggles at five-on-five have been glaring, particularly lately. He hasn’t found any real chemistry with anyone. He still has just one lone point at five-on-five, a secondary assist on a goal by Nick Seeler on Oct. 26 against Minnesota. That ties him for 16th on the Flyers in five-on-five points with defenseman Emil Andrae and fourth-liner Nic Deslauriers, each of whom has played just six games.
Have there been times that Michkov has helped generate offensive chances and his teammates haven’t finished? Yes, of course. The team-wide struggles up front have been evident since the season began.
But Michkov hasn’t done enough to create chances for himself, and that’s probably what Tortorella would like to see a little more of from him. On a team that lacks finishers, Michkov is supposed to develop into one. He has to, frankly.
It was obvious in the early going, both in rookie camp and in the preseason, that Michkov’s aggressiveness and fearlessness were part of what endeared him right away to Tortorella and others in the organization. He scored his very first goal in a rookie game in Allentown against the Rangers’ rookies by fighting his way to the front of the net, and his first goal in the NHL in Edmonton on Oct. 15 was the same way, as he jammed the puck through goalie Stuart Skinner on a Flyers power play in the first period.
He hasn’t had those chances lately. In his previous five games, Michkov managed just six shots on goal at five-on-five, and just three individual scoring chances — only one of which has been a high-danger chance, according to Natural Stat Trick. To put that in perspective, defensemen Seeler and Andrae also had three high-danger chances over that span, while Owen Tippett had 10 (and four more Thursday, including the game-tying goal in the third period.).
That all suggests that maybe Michkov is just simply fatigued. Tortorella hinted at that last week when he said “(Michkov) doesn’t play four games in six nights over there (in Russia). He doesn’t play against competition like he plays (against) here.”
And the Flyers’ early season schedule has, in fact, been a bear. The season began with a four-game Western Conference road swing, they’ve already had three back-to-backs and wrapped up that four-in-six scenario that Tortorella referenced on Halloween in the Blues game where Michkov was benched.
There were two long stretches Tuesday that Michkov sat against the Hurricanes, one in the second period and another in the third. He didn’t make any glaring mistakes in the preceding shifts before those benchings, but he certainly didn’t do anything notable. Instead, he was a half second late on a forecheck, failed to get in front of a shot from the point in the defensive zone, was easily pushed off the puck on an attempted rush the other way, and then couldn’t catch up to a lead pass in the neutral zone.
He just looked like a guy who is out of gas, which no one would blame him if that’s the case, least of all Tortorella.
At some point, and sooner than later, the Flyers are going to need exactly what Michkov brings when he’s on his game. Even Thursday’s strong team performance without him reflected that, as the Flyers required a perfectly placed backhand by Tippett late in regulation to finally get them on the board and prevent them from getting shut out.
That’s perhaps the best way to look at what transpired. The Flyers seem to be taking baby steps to get back to what made them so surprisingly successful for much of last season. If they can keep building that way, while infusing a gradually improving and energized Michkov back into the lineup, they’re all going to be better for it as the season moves along.
(Photo: Eric Hartline / Imagn Images)
