The Matvei Michkov Era has officially begun.
That much was made clear on Tuesday night in the Flyers’ game against the Edmonton Oilers.
None other than ex-Edmonton Hall of Famer Mark Messier said: “Unbelievable. He can play.”
The Flyers are now 1-1-1 on their four-game road trip.
Both of Michkov’s goals came on the power play, an added bonus for a team which is starved for success in that element of the game.
Michkov connected for his first goal just 4:46 after the opening faceoff.
Stationed near the right post, Michkov took control just a couple feet away from goaltender Stuart Skinner. The netminder blocked the first attempt but Michkov kept jamming at the puck and eventually it crossed the line.
Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost, who Michkov was reunited with on a line at even strength, picked up assists on the play.
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch, a former Flyers assistant coach, challenged the play but lost and that gave the Flyers another power play.
On the Flyers’ third power play of the period, Michkov struck again, once again beating Skinner from the right side, only this time from a more conventional distance at 9:21.
Once again, Frost assisted with help from Travis Konecny.
After the second goal, coach John Tortorella was asked in a live national television interview from the bench what Michkov brings to the Flyers’ special teams.
“Well, it’s skill,” Tortorella said. “He’s really helped, not with the goal scoring but just controlling the power play, giving us a chance.”
The interviewer asked if the coach congratulated Michkov in Russian. Tortorella put on one of his rueful smiles.
“No,” he said, “I did not.”
Edmonton rallied to tie with goals from Adam Henrique at 6:26 and Cooper Brown at 14:01 before Brink went to work.
>Not worried about Oiler stars
Before the game, Tortorella was asked what challenge the Flyers might face if Edmonton stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl played together.
“I don’t overthink it,” Tortorella said. “I’m more concerned about our team as far as some of the things we need to improve on earlier in the year.
“Whatever they do with their lines, we’ll see where they are at and make our call. We don’t spend a lot of time going over the other team. Obviously we know about those two guys, but we spend most of our meetings talking about our team.”
>Power play looking sharp
Of course, every power play the Flyers receive is put under a magnifying glass by team followers. Easy to understand, since the Flyers have finished last in the NHL in each of the past three seasons.
“I think both (first and second) power plays have done OK,” Tortorella said. “I’m still working on things. I’d still like to see (defenseman) Jamie (Drysdale) shoot the puck more. I think if Jamie doesn’t shoot the puck, he’s going to fall into that category, he’s always going to pass it.
“Teams are smart enough to know, they do enough pre-scouting on special teams to take that stuff away. So I think we need to continue to try to open penalty kill units by taking shots when we have the opportunity.”
>Short shots
The Flyers complete the four-game road trip at Seattle on Thursday night before returning home to open their home schedule with a game against Vancouver on Saturday night. . .Defenseman Nick Seeler missed his third straight game with a nerve injury in his leg. . .Defenseman Travis Sanheim played in his 500th NHL game.
