The Philadelphia Flyers continue to have an ever-fluid lineup in their Saturday night matchup visiting the Florida Panthers.
Flyers assistant coach Brad Shaw told media that there will be no changes to the lineup the skaters are all formed in, but goaltender Sam Ersson is back from injury after missing the previous two games on this southern road trip. Without the 25-year-old netminder the Flyers went 1-1-0 against some formidable opponents; but now, the team gets their more reliable starter back in the crease.
And after impressing on Thursday night, earning his first NHL win after allowing just one goal against the powerful Tampa Bay Lightning, Ivan Fedotov is in the backup role. Whether or not this is purely because Aleksei Kolosov is still feeling the injury that caused the 27-year-old Russian to start in Tampa, or it’s based on merit, has not been determined. But he still deserves some time on the bench and not in the press box regardless.
Of course, if there are no changes to the lineup in front of Ersson, that means that Flyers star rookie Matvei Michkov will be a healthy scratch once again.
The 19-year-old that dazzled for the first few games with the Flyers this season and has somewhat faded since then, is not going to be in the lineup. As Flyers head coach John Tortorella put it on Thursday, this is all part of the process and he can learn a whole lot from watching the game up in the press box instead of on the bench in the middle of the action. Michkov will get another opportunity to learn from up above and maybe he’ll see what some other All-Star wingers like Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk do so well for the home team, that he can apply to his own game.
Still, it might not be the worst idea to let a rookie (no matter how hyped) just rest, rejuvenate, and learn against the dominant forces known as the Lightning and the Panthers. And then, almost perfectly, the Flyers are back home on Monday against the lowly San Jose Sharks for Michkov to try out some things — that is, if he gets back in the lineup.
