The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived.
It’s been a big night of firsts for Flyers fans taking in the first of the pair of games the Flyers rookies are playing against the Rangers rookies up in Allentown this weekend. They’ve gotten a first look at a handful of prospects, both recently drafted and recently signed into the organization, but no introduction was more exciting than that of Matvei Michkov, who finally made his debut in a Flyers jersey this evening.
It’s been a pretty buzzy game for Michkov as well. It was a bit of a sleepy start for the Flyers on the whole, but Michkov’s line with Jett Luchanko and Elliot Desnoyers were able to manufacture a couple of nice plays, even if they weren’t able to convert on any of them. And we meant to keep our expectations reasonable — it wouldn’t be the end of the world is Michkov didn’t get on the board in this, his very first bit of game action in North America — but it all ended up being for naught. As it were, it would take less than 30 minutes of gameplay for Michkov to show his goal scoring punch.
With a tied game just before the midpoint of regulation, the Flyers were given almost a full two-minute 5-on-3 power play to work with, and as good of a chance as any to pull themselves into the lead for the first time all game. And it was some really nice setup work by Emil Andrae which popped early in the attempt, but in the end, it was Michkov who was able to collect the puck just outside the crease, stick with it under pressure, and ultimately sneak it in. It was a 2-1 game for the Flyers, and just like that, Michkov had broken the seal.
Now, our expectation for how things are going to go for Michkov remain largely the same — he’ll face some growing pains and every showing won’t be electric, and that’s okay — but it sure was major to see him producing a bit right from the hop, to hit this milestone (even if it won’t count on his stat sheet just yet) so quickly.
