While the Philadelphia Flyers were getting embarrassed in Pittsburgh, Matvei Michkov stepped up to show some fight — literally.
Michkov has been more active in scrums recently and nearly got his first career fight on Wednesday night against Peyton Krebs, but the referees broke it up. He’s been itching to drop the gloves, and he didn’t let the opportunity pass him by on Thursday night in Pittsburgh.
Blake Lizotte lined up Denver Barkey with a hit in the neutral zone, and Michkov chased the Penguins forward down to protect his teammate.
MATVEI MICHKOV DROPS EM TO PROTECT DENVER BARKEY! HE FINALLY GOT HIS FIGHT. GOOD STUFF KID.#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/cCLKSY5RhS
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) January 16, 2026
Michkov definitely didn’t get the better of the fight with Lizotte, and he picked up an instigator for dropping the gloves, but none of that matters. Neither does the fact that the Penguins scored on the ensuing power play, and, of course, it was Sidney Crosby.
What matters is that Michkov finally has his first major penalty and fight in the books, and that’s exactly the type of thing that can get a scuffling team going.
The Flyers have been a resilient team all year long, but they’ve finally faced some adversity and injuries over the last week-plus. Jamie Drysdale and Bobby Brink got hurt. Travis Konecny missed a game. Rasmus Ristolainen is banged up again. And Dan Vladar is now on the shelf. Sam Ersson has shrunk into his net.
On top of that, the condensed schedule is even more hectic with the Olympic break less than a month away.
It’s been tough sledding for the Flyers, especially when those injuries coincided with a gauntlet of games: two against the best team in the Eastern Conference and a back-to-back against the red-hot Sabres and then your biggest rival.
Your struggling sophomore superstar dropping the gloves to defend a teammate — and then ending a 20-game goal drought (OK, he had an empty netter) — has to get you going. If not, there are going to need to be some changes.
The Flyers will have a chance to get back on track at home on Saturday afternoon against the New York Rangers, who might be the one Metropolitan Division team in more turmoil than them. They’ve been outscored 30-12 during their five-game losing streak since winning the Winter Classic.
