Michkov dazzles again and a bubble forward has strong game in OT preseason win

Michkov dazzles again and a bubble forward has strong game in OT preseason win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Thanks to a Matvei Michkov overtime winner, the Flyers picked up a 3-2 decision Saturday night over the Bruins in preseason action at the Wells Fargo Center.

It was Michkov’s second goal of the game. Rasmus Ristolainen scored the Flyers’ other marker, while Travis Konecny and Olle Lycksell had two-point games.

Assistant coaches Brad Shaw, Rocky Thompson and Darryl Williams and skills coach Angelo Ricci led the Flyers’ bench for a second straight game. John Tortorella watched from upstairs with president of hockey operations Keith Jones and general manager Danny Briere.

Michkov, Oliver Bonk and Jett Luchanko, the Flyers’ three first-rounders over the last two drafts, were all in the lineup.

The Flyers are 3-1-0 in the preseason and have three games to go.

• After showing the full repertoire Thursday in his first game action at the Wells Fargo Center, Michkov followed it up with his OT winner and a power play goal at the doorstep. As the Flyers have noted, he’s not afraid to go to the hard areas and score the ones that aren’t as pretty.

The 19-year-old played on his off wing alongside Konecny and Sean Couturier. The club’s power play went 1 for 7 but Michkov has made it look more dangerous at least.

The Flyers have loved his daring style of playmaking. They’ll work with him on the stuff away from the puck.

“Are we going to beat him over the head with it? No, because we are starving for the type of plays that he can make, the instinctive plays that he can make,” Tortorella said Friday. “I do not want to overload him. We’re certainly going to teach him along the way, especially situational play. … We’re not going to try to stifle him in any way as far as his creativity.”

Through three exhibition games, Michkov has three goals, three assists and a plus-4 mark. He also scored a goal in his one rookie game a little over two weeks ago at PPL Center.

“I think we’re just starting to see what he’s about,” Couturier said. “It’s definitely exciting.”

• In the first period, Michkov saw Couturier come to his defense. The young Russian was being antagonized by Billy Sweezey, so the Flyers’ captain swooped in and dropped the gloves with the Bruins’ defenseman.

Good stuff from Couturier to set a precedent there.

“Gigantic,” Shaw said. “That’s how teams are built, it’s a brotherhood, you’re playing for one another. Absolute perfect leadership at that time.”

The next period, Hunter McDonald then had Michkov’s back in a scrum around the net.

“I think we’ve got to establish that early, not let ourselves get pushed around,” Couturier said. “What I liked about [Michkov] is he just kept going.”

• Lycksell was very good. He collected two primary assists and was the Flyers’ most active forward offensively.

“Obviously they’re trying to give me some looks here in the preseason,” Lycksell said. “I’m just trying to do the best I can out of every shift, out of every opportunity on the power play.”

The 25-year-old is vying to open the season with the big club as a depth forward and helped his cause Saturday night.

“I thought he was great,” Shaw said. “His vision was as good as I’ve ever seen it, he’s executing, he’s doing things at speed. And that’s exactly how you create at this level.”

• Luchanko was back with Joel Farabee and Bobby Brink, a line that looked awfully good in the Flyers’ preseason opener.

The 2024 first-round center went scoreless and has had a bit of a drop-off offensively. But he has skated a lot since the start of rookie camp, just turned 18 years old last month and the Flyers are high on his future.

“There’s upside in almost every element of his game,” Shaw said Saturday after morning skate. “He’s an exciting guy, at his age, for what he has done here the last couple of weeks. He has opened a lot of people’s eyes and he has proven that he’s going to be a formidable player at both ends of the rink for as long as he plays.

“He’s going to be a great penalty killer because he can skate. His instincts are off the charts, he’s only going to get stronger, he’s only going to get smarter. That combination, that’s a pretty enticing thing to think of two, three years down the road.”

• Ivan Fedotov made his second preseason appearance and played his first full game, stopping 25 of 27 shots.

“Ivan was great,” Shaw said. “Made some big saves. He’s such a big guy, covers a lot of net. You watch a guy go in on him and it’s like, ‘Where are you going to shoot?'”

On Boston’s game-opening first-period goal, Jamie Drysdale had a turnover that kept the Bruins in the offensive zone. Hampus Lindholm then fired home a shot from distance that may have deflected off of Drysdale’s stick.

Boston regained its lead at 2-1 in the second period with a shorthanded breakaway snipe.

Fedotov, the Flyers’ projected backup, has made 35 saves on 39 shots through five exhibition periods.

“I feel good and better than last year,” Fedotov said. “More control, more detail, more understanding how the puck’s going.”

More: Kolosov in the house; Flyers place three players on waivers

• A couple of notes on two of the Flyers’ younger defensemen:

McDonald did some good things to break up plays and was his physical self.

Bonk definitely sees the game at a high level. He made a handful of subtle but effective reads on the puck in the offensive zone.

• The Flyers are scheduled to be off Sunday before resuming camp and the preseason slate Monday.

Subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | Youtube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube