Matvei Michkov looks like a player getting his footing back, and the Flyers finally got the kind of result they had been chasing all season.
Michkov scored once and added an assist on Porter Martone’s goal as Philadelphia beat Ottawa 3-1 on Saturday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena, snapping a season-opening franchise-record nine-game winless streak and giving the Flyers their first victory of the year.
The turning point came late in the second period, when Michkov cashed in on the power play at 18:33 to break a 1-1 tie. He buried the rebound of a Martone rush past Linus Ullmark, giving the Flyers just their third power-play goal of the season. Michkov now leads the team with four goals, while Christian Dvorak and Martone are next with two apiece.
For a team that had been waiting for something, anything, to go right, the mood on the bench afterward was easy to understand.
“I think we could have done better at times but we did a good job sticking together,” captain Sean Couturier said. “Grinding and finding a way to get this win.
“Hopefully this can give us some confidence, something to build on. It’s one win, we’ve still got a lot of work to do.
There’s still some areas we can be better. But I’m just happy that we finally got a win.
It wasn’t pretty at times but we found a way.”
Michkov and Martone were central to the turnaround, and both sounded comfortable with the early chemistry they’re building.
“Yeah, I like to play together (with him),” Michkov said. “I want to support him on ice. (Off ice) We have connection.”
Martone said the two are still learning one another, but he liked what he saw.
“I think this is our third game together,” he said. “I think we’re trying to see what our tendencies are like.
I liked the show tonight. We’re two young players and as time goes on, I think we’ll develop more chemistry.
I think we can bring a lot to this team.”
Philadelphia didn’t just lean on its top young forwards. Travis Sanheim said the Flyers did a better job of keeping their composure after taking the lead in the third period, and the penalty kill came through late when Tyson Foerster was whistled for delay of game.
“The penalty kill came up huge at the end,” Sanheim said. “An all-around team effort, glad to get the win.”
The Flyers also finished with a 28-26 edge in shots, something that doesn’t happen often. Sanheim said that mattered, especially with the way the game stayed tight.
“I just think we liked the way that we were playing,” Sanheim said. “An unfortunate play there.
The message was, just keep playing the way we were. Keep pushing.
Then the power play came up huge. That’s what you need in tight games.”
Ottawa opened the scoring at 5:55 of the second period when former Flyer Claude Giroux set up Drake Batherson on a two-on-one with only Oliver Bonk back on defense. It was the eighth time in 10 games that an opponent scored first against Philadelphia.
This time, though, the Flyers didn’t fold.
A scoreless first period gave them at least a small foothold, even if this season has seen them get outscored 7-3 in opening frames. They also followed the staff’s instructions and kept pucks coming at Ullmark, finishing the period with a 14-8 shot advantage. Dan Vladar made sure that effort didn’t get wasted, stopping Warren Foegele on a breakaway to keep the game scoreless early.
The Flyers answered Ottawa’s first goal when Martone finished off a Michkov setup at 9:03. Then Michkov’s power-play strike put them in front for good, and Trevor Zegras added an empty-net goal with 13.8 seconds left.
Vladar made sure the lead held, and Tocchet praised the way his team responded while missing several key players, including the injured Travis Konecny, Rasmus Ristolainen and Cam York.
“A lot of guys hurt and some guys stepped up,” Tocchet said. “That (Ottawa) is a good hockey team over there.
But nice to see some resilience. Saw a lot of compete tonight.
Better execution. Some stuff that we really liked.
“We were jumping on loose pucks and I liked the fact we had a shot mentality (28 was one off the season high). We got some shots blocked but we didn’t get discouraged.
We needed everybody. We just can’t have anybody on the sidelines.”
The night also included a pregame tribute to Sara Hart, the widow of longtime Flyers announcer Gene Hart, who recently passed away. Her daughter Lauren, the team’s anthemist for years, sang both the Canadian and American national anthems.
Philadelphia also arrived with a familiar calling card intact: shot blocking. The Flyers led the NHL in blocked shots with 149 heading into Saturday, and defenseman Nick Seeler was second in the league with 26.
There was one more notable moment after the game. Flyers TV analyst Jason Myrtetus, a cancer survivor, addressed the team before puck drop, and Tocchet later handed him the game puck.
“Your speech may have won it,” Tocchet said. “So thank you.”
With a straight face, he added, “He’s going to be head coach now.”
The Flyers are back in action Monday night when they host the Colorado Avalanche. Couturier entered the game with 73 faceoff wins, good for 10th in the NHL, while Philadelphia came in ranked 13th on the penalty kill at 82.9 percent.
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