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The Flyers Won, the Game Was Entertaining, and Matvei Michkov Looked Great
Published:
Matvei Michkov scored two goals in a 3-2 Flyers win over the Avalanche on Monday night in South Philly.
He would have had a hat trick if he had hit an open net at the end of the game (1:22) –
Russian-to-English language jokes aside, Michkov credited his teammates for the victory.
“I think this is not my work,” he told the NBCSN broadcast after the game. “This is teamwork, and we need to play harder and we win our first period and we need to be ready for the second. We have good moments, good chances right now. And we need to, I think, score.”
This was a great performance against one of the NHL’s best teams in Colorado. It was pretty even on shots, 26 to 24 for the Avalanche. Joseph Woll was excellent in net, again. They blocked 24 (!) shots and stayed out of the penalty box, too, just two power plays for the Avs. They gave the puck away just six times and scored on a power play of their own, a classic Michkov weak side finish that looked like something out of his rookie season:
Nothing complicated here. Trevor Zegras fires a shot that misses high. Jamie Drysdale retrieves it and gets it to Michkov, who goes cross-ice back to Zegras. Porter Martone hustles back to the net and seals off Josh Manson, Zegras rips another one, and the netfront traffic sees the puck fall to Michkov on the backdoor.
Rick Tocchet said afterward that he wanted to try Zegras on his forehand side, which makes him “go downhill, making things happen.” The Flyers’ power play has looked better in recent games, after being dreck for a half-decade.
The second Michkov goal was all him:
“I just saw a lot of buy-in tonight,” Tocchet said. “We ask certain things from the team and we’re slowly getting more and more of it. Things that win in hockey. I think we’re getting it. And moments, too. We’re getting some moments. Last game, big goal, Mich getting two power play goals in a row. That hasn’t happened in a long time. That’s a big moment for us.”
Not sure anybody is ready to declare that the Flyers are “back,” but that’s two good performances in a row now. They’ve got 7 points. The goaltending has been top notch all season long. Michkov looks very good. They had a bunch of call ups and some different guys in the lineup and they did well.
Sometimes you just have to get that first win to settle things down and get everybody playing without pressure. That was a good hockey game last night. Let’s hope there’s more of it to come.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com