Matvei Michkov is back in the kind of groove that made him so dangerous two seasons ago, and the numbers are starting to show it.
The Flyers winger scored twice in Saturday afternoon’s 5-4 loss to Anaheim at Xfinity Mobile Arena, giving him seven and eight goals on the season and putting him in a five-way tie for fifth among NHL goal-scorers, pending Saturday night action. He’s only four goals off the league lead. Through 13 games, Michkov already has eight goals; last season, across a full year, he finished with 20.
That pace has him looking more like his rookie-season version, when he led the Flyers with 26 goals. If he stays anywhere near this stretch, he’d be on track for roughly 50 goals over the season.
Michkov, though, wasn’t interested in talking up his own total after the loss.
“I feel good,” he said after the game. “But today my team lose.
We need to work and (try to) win every game. Just work.
We had five-on-five chances (today) and we only had one score. This is no good.
We need hard work for chances.”
His center, Noah Cates, sees the confidence coming through every shift.
“He’s shooting the puck with confidence,” said Cates. “It’s really off the charts. He’s making the little plays, really helping us.”
Cates also pointed to the line’s growing comfort level with Tyson Foerster. The trio accounted for three of the Flyers’ four goals and, in Cates’ words, is starting to click.
“They’re playing great, they’re working hard off the puck,” he said. “Offensively we’re carrying pucks in the zone.
‘Michy’ is good at finding the lanes, opening up things for us. We’re learning, we’re talking every game.”
The Flyers got off to a 2-0 start, but Joseph Woll’s rough afternoon helped swing the game back Anaheim’s way. Tristan Luneau’s wide-angle goal two minutes into the third period was a turning point, and the five goals allowed were not what Woll usually gives up this season.
“When it happens, it’s no fun,” he said. “It’s my job to shake them off and give our team a chance.”
Even with the early lead, Woll came away frustrated.
“In general, pretty disappointing,” Woll admitted. “I thought we played well enough to win the game.
I don’t think I played well enough to win the game. Sometimes it goes like that.”
The Flyers haven’t had a goal-scoring champion since Reggie Leach’s 61-goal season in 1975-75, when he edged Montreal’s Guy Lafleur (56), Pittsburgh’s Pierre Larouche (53) and teammate Jean Pronovost (52). Half a century later, at least for now, Michkov has put himself in the conversation.
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Flyers Waste Another Michkov Night In Frustrating Rivalry Loss
Matvei Michkov gave the Flyers another night they should have been able to build on, scoring twice in a game that also featured Rasmus Ristolainen back in the lineup after missing nine games with an injury. Instead, Philadelphia let two leads slip away in a 5-4 loss to Anaheim, a result that snapped a three-game winning streak and left the building with the familiar feeling of a missed opportunity in a rivalry game.
For a team trying to stack positive results, the frustration was in how quickly control faded after the Flyers had taken command. The scoring touch was there, and Michkov again looked like a player capable of swinging the night, but Philadelphia could not protect its advantages long enough to turn his performance into two points. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Loss Brought Back The Leo Carlsson Sting
Leo Carlsson was a central figure again on a night when the Flyers seemed to have control, then watched it slip away. Anaheim erased a two-goal deficit to beat Philadelphia 5-4, with Carlsson scoring once and helping drive the Ducks comeback. He now leads Anaheim in scoring with 13 points this season, a reminder of the talent the Flyers have seen from afar while trying to build their own forward momentum.
Philadelphias three-game winning streak ended despite goals from Matvei Michkov, Tyson Foerster and others, and the loss carried an extra edge because Carlsson remained right in the middle of the action when the game turned. The Flyers have had to live with the sting of watching a young center grow into a featured piece for Anaheim, and this was another night when he looked every bit like the sort of player a team can build around. [Read more 🡒]