The best Russian player in NHL history and one of the best young Russians in the game today faced off last week when the Philadelphia Flyers hosted the Washington Capitals.
Matvei Michkov got the scoring started late in the first period with Alexander Ovechkin answering back with a goal of his own less than two minutes later. Michkov then put the Flyers ahead 3-2 in the second period, but Ovechkin got the last laugh as the Capitals came back for a 4-3 regulation win to further their lead in the Metropolitan Division.
Ovechkin got an up-close-and-personal look at Michkov’s play during that game and it’d be hard to be anything but impressed. The Flyers rookie ended a seven-game point drought with a pair of goals on six shots — one shy of the seven shots he fired in the previous seven games.
RG.org’s Sergey Demidov recently had an exclusive interview with Ovechkin and the Russian legend had high praise for Michkov’s game.
“Michkov is a great guy; he’s doing well,” Ovechkin said. “He played against us recently, so I got to see him. But I wish he would show off a little less. Otherwise, everything is great.”
The “I wish he would show off a little less” is a bit interesting as it could be read tongue-in-cheek since Michkov just put up two goals against his squad. However, Michkov’s flashy plays have come under fire before after the Russian rookie attempted a lacrosse goal a few too many times. John Tortorella admitted he’s “lost the damn battle” with Mickhov’s Michigan attempts — and Michigan attempts as a whole.
Ovechkin was then asked about Ivan Demidov, who the Montreal Canadiens selected fifth overall in the 2024 NHL Draft. Although his answer may have been more about Demidov, it could be applied to Michkov as well; especially after his quote about showing off.
“Work, and everything will be fine,” said Ovechkin. “The most important thing is not showing off. Because when anyone shows off, it can come back to bite you in a big way.”
Michkov sits at 36 points (16 goals, 20 assists) through 55 games at the 4 Nations Face-Off break. He’s one of several Flyers who can definitely use the two weeks off with just nine points in 22 games since the holiday break after piling up 27 in his first 33.
