Matvei Michkov scored twice in the Philadelphia Flyers’ 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday night. However, the talented 20-year-old Russian was inches away from scoring what may have been the best goal ever to cap off a first career hat trick.
With 15:45 remaining in the third period, Michkov darted around the back of the Capitals’ net and pulled the puck onto the blade of his stick. He made his way unimpeded to the front of Washington’s net and attempted a Michigan lacrosse-style shot headed for the top shelf without Charlie Lindgren’s intervention.
The 31-year-old Capitals netminder, who made 19 saves in the win, credited his big save to the team’s coaching staff due to their pregame preparation on Michkov.
“Yeah, I think there was a pre-scout this morning on him doing a similar thing,” Lindgren said. “So I saw him get it on his stick, and then I said, ‘Oh boy, I better climb this post here, or –.’ Pretty impressive. I thought he was the best player on the ice tonight. He was all over the place, making plays. Obviously, a heck of a talent, and he’s going to be a fun one to watch in this league for a long time.”
Michkov, Philadelphia’s first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, has attempted to score a Michigan several times this season, much to the chagrin of his head coach, John Tortorella. Tortorella is perhaps the principal hater of the move in today’s NHL and has long derided it and other moves like it before Michkov was ever part of the Flyers organization.
Earlier in the season, Tortorella admitted he tried to coach it out of Michkov’s game, urging him to try a more high-percentage play.
“The thing I want [Michkov] to understand is he’s just such a good player at moving the puck and passing the puck, when he’s behind the net he’s dangerous to make plays,” Tortorella said via Sportsnet after a previous Michkov attempt in December. “What am I going to do, say ‘Don’t do it?’ What I did is I said, ‘You need to understand that there are other plays to be made there too.'”
Michkov hasn’t stopped attempting the Michigan despite his head coach’s pleas and Torts admitted he abandoned dissuading the young winger from using the move.
“I’ve lost the battle,” Tortorella said. “I don’t think it should be in our game, but I’ve lost that battle.”
Michkov’s attempt on Thursday night came with the Flyers up 3-2. While the ensuing play after Lindgren’s save didn’t lead directly to a goal, Lars Eller would tie the game just 1:08 later. Jakob Chychrun then potted the game-winner for Washington later in the final frame.
While Tortorella didn’t directly address Michkov’s latest try at the highly-skilled move, the always testy head coach seemed significantly upset overall in his postgame press conference, which lasted just 50 seconds. His lone Michkov-related individual takeaway was, “He played really well.”
Michkov finished the game with 19:31 of ice time, second among all Flyers forwards. On top of his two goals, he recorded six shots, 12 individual shot attempts, eight individual scoring chances, five individual high-danger chances, and one drawn penalty.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery echoed much of his goaltender’s comments about Michkov when asked about the challenges of defending the young Russian.
“So that (Michigan attempt), individual skill,” Carbery said. “We knew what he can do with the puck, and credit to our video staff for showing that and Chuckie being aware of that and ready for the behind-the-net play. I find he’s got the individual skill, but he’s also smart.
“You’re going to see him get in on breakaways and two-on-ones. And when I watch that, it looks a lot like those — I talked about this actually the other day with O and the empty netters. There’s a lot of guys around the league that you might say cheat, but I just think he’s got really, really good instincts for the game and where the puck’s going, and so all of a sudden, you pick your head up, and he’s in all alone, on a breakaway once again. It’s not coincidence.”
The two goals were Michkov’s first since getting into a shouting match and being benched by Tortorella for half of Philadelphia’s game against the New York Islanders on January 30. Tortorella said earlier on Thursday that if he could have a do-over on the situation, he would not have sat Michkov for the entire third period of that game.
Michkov now has 36 points (16g, 20a) in 54 games this season. He ranks third among all NHL rookies in scoring, behind only Lane Hutson (41) and Macklin Celebrini (39).
