Despite Loss, Flyers Find Home for Matvei Michkov

Despite a 6-3 loss to the Calgary Flames on Saturday night, the Philadelphia Flyers’ line of Matvei Michkov, Morgan Frost, and Travis Konecny is playing like one of the NHL’s best.

In the loss, the Flyers trio out-shot their opponents 14-5 and produced four scoring chances, three of which were high-danger chances, per Natural Stat Trick.

Even with a 68.83% expected goals percentage, Michkov, Frost, and Konecny allowed one goal at 5-on-5, and didn’t produce any. Such is life with the rest of the Flyers’ lineup in disarray.

And, although Michkov played with Frost for 8:37 at even strength against the Flames, he also rotated around as the Flyers grew increasingly desperate for offense, trying to come back from one-, two-, and three-goal deficits at different points in the hockey game.

Michkov-Frost-Konecny is the Flyers' only forward line that has played 10 or more minutes together

They're second in the NHL with 105 shot attempts/60 minutes @MoneyPuckdotcom #LetsGoFlyers

— Jon Bailey (@ByJonBailey) October 13, 2024

Michkov played 1:58 alongside Flyers captain Sean Couturier, and 1:34 next to Ryan Poehling. In his time with those two centers, the 19-year-old was on the ice for just three shot attempts for and six shot attempts against.

Suffice to say, head coach John Tortorella and the Flyers need to pair Michkov with like-minded players who can efficiently create offense, not the other way around. A teenaged NHL rookie won’t turn water into wine with veteran players that don’t play his style.

Speaking of Couturier, Tortorella actually found an efficient combination of him, Joel Farabee, and Bobby Brink.

In only 5:19 at even strength, Couturier, Farabee, and Brink out-shot opponents 7-4, scored a goal, and created five scoring chances (with only one against!). Four of those scoring chances were high-danger.

The problem?

Couturier, Farabee, and Brink all played 13:32 or fewer in a game which the Flyers spent all but five minutes and 37 seconds trailing the Flames.

So, although Tortorella really dropped the ball on managing the Flyers in this game, he also stumbled upon some truly encouraging developments.

Going forward, consistency will be key with Michkov. He’ll need patience and time to develop chemistry and produce offense with his teammates, but he will not be able to do that when being juggled around with random players in the bottom-six.

Likewise, the Flyers will need to find other ways to create offense, rather than relying upon every Michkov shift and saying a prayer. Maximizing the talents of players like Farabee and Brink will help Tortorella avoid the self-ascribed “Mich Show”.

With a few days between Tuesday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, we’ll soon see just how much the Flyers have taken away from their season-opening back-to-back.