Matvei Michkov has spent the early part of this season making a living in the part of the ice most scorers don’t want to trust. And for the Flyers, that has meant one thing: goals.
The 21-year-old is second on the team in points behind Trevor Zegras and already leads Philadelphia with eight goals, seven of them coming over the last seven games. That kind of start has cooled plenty of the criticism that followed his regression in his sophomore season, and the reason is pretty clear. Michkov looks more confident, especially around the net.
That confidence shows up most on the weak side, where defenders and goaltenders often lose sight of him. More than half of his goals this season have come on the backdoor, a detail that fits neatly with how he approached the offseason. Along with getting himself ready to begin the year in better shape, Michkov was studying film of Nikita Kucherov, another Russian winger known for finding weak-side chances.
That is not to say the two are on the same level. Kucherov is a decorated superstar with 13 years of NHL experience.
Michkov is still in the early stages of his pro career, now in his third year. But the takeaway is hard to miss: Michkov is trying to make that same area of the ice his own.
The tape backs it up.
On one power-play sequence, the Flyers set up in the offensive zone and Michkov holds his ground on Linus Ullmark’s weak side without drifting an inch. His stick stays on the ice the whole time, giving Zegras another lane and keeping Michkov ready if a rebound or loose puck spills into that space. It does, as Zegras’ hard wrister sneaks through Ullmark and Michkov finishes it off to tie the game 1-1.
Another clip shows a little more movement, but the destination is the same. After Michkov can’t knock down a rebound from Noah Cates’ shot, he resets into that same familiar lane, hidden from Albert Johansson and Daniil Tarasov.
When Travis Sanheim’s shot is blocked in front by Anton Johansson, the puck still ends up in Michkov’s area. He stays poised and bats it in for the first goal of the game.
There’s a similar pattern on the next one. Michkov starts at the top of the circle while Porter Martone and David Jiricek move the puck on the power play.
As Jiricek sends it back to Martone for the one-timer, Michkov slides into position. Martone’s shot kicks off Ullmark’s right pad, and Michkov is right there to clean it up.
"Hey, I've seen this one!"
The chemistry piece matters, too. Zegras starts one sequence with a low slap shot from his own spot, Denver Barkey gets a backhand tip in front, and the puck glances off Josh Manson, who is tied up with Martone, creating a screen in front of Mackenzie Blackwood. Michkov only needs to see the open space once the rebound drops onto his blade.
He finishes another one the same way. Michkov begins at the point, then reacts when Jamie Drysdale moves toward the middle and feeds Zegras. Michkov shuffles down to the backdoor, Zegras’ shot gets blocked by Timothy Liljegren, and Barkey finds the open man for a goal that brings the Flyers within one.
The encouraging part for Philadelphia is that there’s still more there for the taking. After a three-game winning streak from Oct. 17 through Oct. 21, the Flyers have now lost three straight, and the concern is starting to creep back in. In those losses, they cashed in on some power-play chances but left too many others on the table, chances that could have changed the outcomes.
That means more opportunities for Michkov to keep working that weak side. He’ll get another shot at it Sunday against the Mammoth’s 19th-ranked penalty kill at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSP.
In Other News...
Flyers Keep Sliding As Injuries And Sloppy Play Wreck Any Momentum
The Flyers trip to Washington brought another familiar mix of frustration and unfinished business, with injuries continuing to thin the lineup and the losses piling up around them. Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov found the net in a 5-2 defeat at Capital One Arena, but the Capitals controlled the flow for most of the night and the Flyers never managed to turn a few good moments into sustained pressure.
It was the kind of game that has become all too recognizable for a club trying to find traction without Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett and Rasmus Ristolainen. Philadelphia has now lost 12 of its first 15 games, and even when the attack flashes enough to keep things interesting, the bigger issues keep showing up in the same places: turnovers, gaps in coverage and a lack of timely responses when the game starts to tilt away. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Already Face An Ugly Question About This Core
The early stretch has already forced an uncomfortable conversation around the Flyers, because the problems are showing up in too many places at once. They have been slow out of the gate, loose defensively and short on the kind of offense needed to survive a long season, and coach Rick Tocchet has not tried to hide it. Sean Couturier and Nick Seeler also acknowledged the issues after Wednesdays game, which tells you how plainly this is being viewed inside the room.
Danny Briere is the one left staring at the bigger-picture question if this slide keeps going. At some point, the Flyers may have to decide whether this core needs a jolt through personnel or a more drastic shakeup behind the bench, because the current mix is not masking the flaws. For a team that wants to climb out of the leagues middle, the uncomfortable part is not just that things are going poorly now, but that the list of possible fixes is already getting shorter. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Keep Getting Outpaced Even As Matvei Michkov Keeps Scoring
Matvei Michkov kept finding the net, but the Flyers still could not keep pace in Washington, where the Capitals pulled away for a 5-2 win. The game had the familiar shape of a Philadelphia night lately, with Michkov providing offense while the other side seemed to have more answers, more speed and more finish as the Flyers tried to hang on.
Washington's depth made the difference, with Jordan Kyrou striking twice and Aliaksei Protas adding his first goal of the season. Alex Tuch also kept his torrid start going for the Capitals, and the late finishing touch only underscored how quickly Philadelphia can get buried when an opponent starts turning chances into goals. [Read more 🡒]