The Philadelphia Flyers earned a feel-good 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals that helped them wash away a whole lot of their ongoing issues. Sure, it doesn’t help that they suffered a brutal stretch that almost cemented them as a non-playoff team, but Tuesday night’s win was perfectly timed after the messy drama between head coach Rick Tocchet and winger Matvei Michkov spilled into the national spotlight.
The main gripe surrounding this drama was the lack of minutes given to Michkov and how the former superstar rookie deserves more than, say, the 10 minutes and 21 seconds of ice that was given to him last Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings. It blew up so much that general manager Danny Briere had to address it to the media before Tuesday’s game. So, all eyes turned to how Michkov’s minutes would be affected in the first game since the controversy-fueled explosion.
Matvei Michkov took more extended shifts Tuesday vs. Capitals
While Michkov’s total ice-time was an issue, it was a little more complicated than that. While it is just a single game sample, but in that game against the Kings, Michkov’s average shift length was 34 seconds, while most forwards were at least several seconds more — and that’s a substantial amount. So, questions about his conditioning were raised; more questions about Tocchet potentially pulling him off earlier than others were raised even more. It was a big mess, clearly. A big mix of shorter shifts and fewer shifts overall greatly affecting the total minutes.
That seemed to become more of a past problem Tuesday night.
In the win over the Capitals, Michkov had a total of 15:54 time-on-ice, which was sixth among Flyers forwards, but obviously special teams affects that. Michkov was handed a total of 14:28 time-on-ice at 5-on-5 — which was also sixth among Flyers forwards but the spread was a little more narrow between players. When it comes to total shifts though, Michkov took 21 which is above his season average of 19.6 shifts per game. A good sign, for sure.
But the focus was really on just how long Michkov was staying out there. By running some very quick math with all the numbers we just spewed out onto this page, the 21-year-old winger was out there for an average of 45.4 seconds Tuesday night. Over 10 seconds more than his average shift length in just the previous game.
Rick Tocchet discusses extending Michkov’s shift length
But that is something that the head coach now believes he can handle. It is very funny and possibly not coincidental that after the drama unfolded that this change was made, but Tocchet touched on how he handled giving Michkov more seconds out there each shift after being asked if it was something specifically he talked with the player about.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Tocchet said. “We talked to him yesterday too a little bit about if you feel like standing, you know, get out there. Obviously if you’re winded, get off, but I thought he was moving.
“The first goal we actually talked about a line this morning, they’re a man-on-man team. I said, ‘Matvei, if you come around the net, like, fake and hold that puck, that weak side is open’. And he did. I mean, that was a hell of a pass, and obviously [Sanheim] makes the pass to [Tippett]. So, it was nice to get that thing going. We’re up. We’re up one nothing, not the other team.”
OWEN TIPPETT OPENS THE SCORING AFTER SOME GREAT PASSING. MATVEI MICHKOV ASSIST.#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/acFJWXQSBV
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) February 4, 2026
It certainly will be something to keep an eye on going forward, but if all it took for Michkov to get more minutes and have his average shift length explode relative to where it was, was a little bit of a national controversy where just about every single podcaster and reporter had their own take on it — well, then we’ll take it.
The Flyers have one game left before the Olympic break as they host Claude Giroux and his Ottawa Senators Thursday night, and then we won’t see them until Feb. 25.
