At the end of Thursday evening, Matvei Michkov buried a shot behind Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper that few would’ve had a chance of stopping. He did a quiet celebration resembling a vintage Danny Briere, but knew the Flyers at least could live to fight another day. The Philadelphia Flyers winger then scored the shootout-deciding goal that gave his team the required two points. Considering just how hard he got rocked by Kings defenseman Drew Doughty in the third period, it was incredible that he was back on the ice at all.
Overall, Michkov had a game that a lot of Flyers faithful would’ve expected to see more than just five or six times this season. It wasn’t that he scored a hat trick, or had four points in a victory that was more of a laugher. Michkov, like most of the 11 forwards and seven defensemen skating in front of Sam Ersson, dug deep when he needed to the most. After defeating a strong and desperate Anaheim team on Wednesday night, Philadelphia had the same task staring them in the face Thursday night. Only this time against a more desperate club in Los Angeles who had a few days rest. Sure, the regulation wins would’ve been nice, but earning four out of four points was huge in terms of keeping their playoff hopes alive for a while longer.
Michkovmania goes Hollywood. #PHIvsLAK | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/U0FWFAOmuw
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 20, 2026
Solid production from Michkov but it means even more
Michkov made the most of his time on the ice. In 17:04, Michkov earned a primary assist on the Flyers’ second goal of the night when Noah Cates tied it up early in the middle frame. Less than three minutes later, the sophomore winger had a secondary assist on Travis Sanheim’s tally that put Philadelphia up 3-2. He was a plus-2 on the night, with one shot on goal, had no takeaways but also had no giveaways.
And while his minor penalty in the third was the one Los Angeles tied the game on, he wasn’t the only Flyer who took a dumb penalty: Cates, Owen Tippett, and Travis Konecny (who had a mind-numbing brain cramp on a cross-ice pass that was almost costly) were all guilty of minor infractions.
In terms of expected goals for percentage at 5-on-5, Michkov was only one-upped by Alex Bump in terms of top nine forwards (59.89 per cent) and had a hell of a better night than Tippett (9.62 per cent), and both Zegras and Cates who were under 50 per cent. And the line he was on with Cates and Carl Grundstrom were on the ice for two goals for and none against.
Again, not earth-shattering statistics, but for a player who is still finding his way in the league, it was a statement game of sorts. Particularly considering just how badly the Doughty hit looked on first glance. While Michkov’s head took a lot of the blow, his body positioning against the boards could’ve resulted in an injury to either leg, a hip or just something else that would’ve took him out of the game. Or even the season.
Rick Tocchet praises Matvei Michkov for statement game
“I thought Matvei — the first 10, after the first 10, and not just him — I thought he was skating really well,” Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said postgame. “Made some really good plays. He’s been doing a good job in overtime. He’s skating well, holding onto some pucks. I think he got a couple of assists tonight, the line was good. I mean, he played all over the map too, you needed him to play on different lines because we were short-handed. Yeah, he’s doing a good job for us.”
Although Tocchet didn’t see a replay of Michkov’s hit by Doughty, it was apparent that the blow didn’t slow down Michkov at all. In fact, it might have fueled him on, particularly with the Flyers down a handful of forwards (Sean Couturier, Denver Barkey, and Luke Glendening) and needing to adjust on the fly to different line combinations or responsibilities. Through March, Michkov has been on the minus side of the ledger only twice regarding plus/minus while being even or above the other seven games, including the last five consecutive tilts. He now has 16 goals to go with 20 assists for 36 points, and with 14 games to go, Michkov could end up somewhere between 40 to 45 points depending on what transpires.
What we do know is that Michkov is beginning to look more and more like the winger a lot of people expected him to be to start the season. That can only be a plus for Philadelphia as they continue this West Coast swing and essentially needing another two points against San Jose on Saturday afternoon to stay in the hunt. He’s beginning to shine again, and that’s something that can’t come soon enough down this important stretch. Again, it wasn’t a four-point night that had a bevy of highlight reel moments. It was just a solid, well-rounded effort from a guy the Flyers are going to need moving forward this season and beyond.
All stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and ESPN.com
