Flyers

Matvei Michkov Should Be Allowed to Quadruple Shift, Since He’s One of the Few Flyers Who Can Actually Score a Goal or Create a Chance

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Nov 6th, 2026 · 9:31 AM EST

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The Flyers choked another one away on Thursday night, losing 3-2 to the New York Rangers after giving up a couple of late goals. It was a weak penalty call on Denver Barkey to put NYR on the power play, but nothing seems to be going their way at the moment.

They’re 4-10-4 and the worst team in the Eastern Conference in points per game.

But the big story on Action News was Matvei Michkov getting bumped to the third line, and only playing 15:56 in this game after a double-shifting kerfuffle:

Konecny seemed pretty unhappy that Michkov pulled a double shift there, banging his stick on the boards when Michkov skated by

And then Michkov iced it right in front of the Flyers' bench

— Jonathan Bailey (@ByJonBailey) November 6, 2026

Little frustration moment there by Konecny… Michkov had two chances to change to let Konecny come on, never went to bench, TK slammed his stick on bench as Rangers went up ice, then Michkov iced the puck as he went for the change and Konecny let out a big f*ck

— Brandon J. Sommermann (@B_Sommermann) November 6, 2026

Tocchet just was looking up at the clock and next group that jumped on was Tippett Cates Foerster… there was about 9:30 left… looks like the bench is shortening and have to wonder how many more shifts Michkov sees, also has two turnovers already in 3rd period

— Brandon J. Sommermann (@B_Sommermann) November 6, 2026

Couple of things here:

• Michkov should have more ice time. He’s got 10 goals this year to lead the team and yet only averages 15:54, which is less than the other players at double digit goals or more. We’re talking guys like Leon Draisaitl and Auston Matthews and William Nylander, who are all getting 20+ minutes per game. Michkov isn’t on their level, not yet at least, but since he’s the only Flyers forward who can actually score, or create a chance, he should be out there more than he currently is.
• Travis Konecny has a right to be upset with Michkov staying out on the ice, but nobody cares. Nobody is yearning for more Travis Konecny at this point, or more Owen Tippett or Sean Couturier. We want to see the young and exciting guys. We don’t want to see more of the boring veterans who have been here for years.
• Rick Tocchet shouldn’t have messed with the Michkov/Cates/Martone line. It’s been their best line this year. Mixing Tyson Foerster into that line makes no sense.

Anyway, here’s what the head coach said after the game about why they fell apart in the third:

“When you’re under pressure I guess. You’ve got to attack pressure. We keep talking about it. I don’t know the answer. When the pressure hits you want to embrace it. You want the puck. You want to be in situations, where (you) want to be the difference maker. Whether it’s wall play, a blocked shot, a good back check. Those are the moments we need people to consistently do (things).”

Right. Noel Acciari summed that up when he said this:

An interesting quote from Noel Acciari postgame: “I think we were trying to defend a lead rather than just play the game and kind of do what made us successful during the other period.”

— Jonathan Bailey (@ByJonBailey) November 6, 2026

They’re a mess. It’s crazy, too, because they have great goaltending for the first time in a long time. And now they can’t score goals or protect a lead. They can’t seem to start games on the right foot. They always come back to make it a game in the 2nd and 3rd, but boy are they difficult to watch.