The Philadelphia Flyers topped the Boston Bruins by a score of 3-2 Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center, and once again, Russian prodigy Matvei Michkov dazzled for all in attendance.
The 19-year-old phenom scored a pair of goals in the outing, including the game-winner in overtime to earn the Flyers their third victory of the preseason.
It should come as no surprise that all three of those wins have come with Michkov in the lineup.
But while Michkov’s overtime heroics are the talk of the town, it was a display of leadership from captain Sean Couturier that turned the tide of the game.
Late in the first period, Bruins defenseman Billy Sweezey finished a check on Michkov behind the play. The two exchanged several shoves as Sweezey attempted to bait the first-year NHLer into a fight.
Michkov declined, but Couturier didn’t.
Couturier immediately stepped in as Sweezey continued chasing after Michkov. He dropped the gloves without hesitation and tossed knuckles as his helmet dangled from Sweezey’s gripping hand. Fans in attendance showered Couturier with cheers as he made his way to the penalty box.
Couturier sent a message to the entire NHL. If you mess with Michkov, there will be consequences.
“I think we’ve gotta establish that early and not let ourselves get pushed around,” he said after the game.
“What I liked about him is he just kept going. Next couple shifts, the rest of the game, he was going hard to the net, battling hard until the whistle. I think maybe getting a little under their skin, but that’s what you want to see. You don’t want to see him back off. It’s just part of the game.”
The whole team fed off of Couturier’s leadership. Just 14 seconds after the scrap with Sweeney, Rasmus Ristolainen scored the Flyers’ only 5-on-5 goal of the night, tying the game at one goal apiece.
“That’s how teams are built,” associate coach Brad Shaw said after the game. “It’s a brotherhood. You’re playing for one another. Absolute perfect leadership at that time. Exactly what we needed. Not surprised that we score shortly after that. We were getting our game sort of in gear at that point, and then from that point on, it just felt like it was sort of our game to win. For Coots to do that, it’s incredible.
“Going forward, it goes a long way on building that team and embracing Matvei as a teammate.”
Despite only being an official member of the Flyers for a little under three months, Michkov has already established himself as the new face of the franchise. Far and away the most high-profile Flyers prospect since Eric Lindros, Michkov has supplied fans with hope — a concept even the club’s most enthusiastic diehards have severely lacked over the last decade.
Flyers head coach John Tortorella admitted Friday that the team has been “starved” for a player with Michkov’s strengths. Saturday night, Michkov put all of those strengths on full display. Whether it was a nifty pass through traffic or a spectacular display of puck skills, Michkov seemed to make plays that wowed the crowd on nearly every shift.
He looked particularly strong on the man advantage, scoring a power-play goal early in the second period.
Travis Konecny got the play started with a cross-ice feed to Olle Lycksell (who had an excellent game in his own right). Michkov immediately repositioned, parking himself on the goal line at the side of the net just outside of Joonas Korpisalo’s peripheral vision.
Lycksell fed Michkov with a perfect tape-to-tape feed, and Michkov tapped the puck past the goal line to tie the game at two goals apiece.
Easy peasy.
“I feel like he really knows the spots, where he should be in order to make a good scoring chance out of every situation, and I feel like he really showed that tonight,” Lycksell said.
“With the goal there, he’s by the post. He gets kind of an open net there, and that’s not his position from the start. So he just knows where to be to score the goals, and that’s great stuff from him.”
As outstanding as Michkov has looked throughout the preseason, he will face some rough patches as a rookie. Brad Shaw admitted as much during his post-game presser.
But the more he plays, it only becomes clearer that he’s cut from a different cloth.
With his rare skill and competitive nature, along with a group of teammates already showing immense support for him both on the ice and in the locker room, he has all the makings of a future star.
“It’s just the passion he has. He wants to score goals, he wants the puck, and he works hard for it,” Couturier said. “That’s what you want to see from a young guy. He’s just working hard whistle to whistle, and that’s what you want.”
