VOORHEES, N.J. – Whether the term “sophomore slump” can be applied to the sport of hockey remains to be seen.
But if you’re looking for a reason why Matvei Michkov is off to such a slow start, that might be as good an excuse as any.
After three games the Flyers’ talented second-year player has a grand total of no points and a team-leading six penalty minutes.
Things have sunk so low, Michkov did not see the ice surface for the final eight minutes of Monday night’s 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers.
Granted, it’s a very small sample size. And although he claims he’s a hundred percent health-wise now, there’s no denying his summer training was hampered by a nagging ankle injury.
After Wednesday’s practice at the Flyers Training Center, Michkov claimed everything’s OK. He’s coming off a rookie season in which his 26 goals led both all Flyers and all first-year players around the NHL.
“I want to score of course,” Michkov said through an interpreter. “I’m sure that as I continue working, it will come. The most important thing is the team is winning.”
Well, actually the record is 1-1-1 after three games, although those games include two against two-time Stanley Cup champion Florida and one versus the powerhouse Carolina Hurricanes.
Michkov is not using the ankle issue as an excuse.
“Was training in the summer and got a minor injury to the ankle,” he said. “Now I’m getting back into shape.
“I’m not scoring, not making any assists, (but) the last three games is not connected with the injury.”
Coach Rick Tocchet apparently wasn’t thrilled with Michkov’s play in the Florida game and kept him on the bench for the last eight minutes. Still, he did play close to 15 minutes for the game. A needless penalty by Michkov in the neutral zone probably didn’t help his cause.
“Things are good with coach,” Michkov said. “We’ve been talking pretty much everyday. He tells me how he feels with my game. And I tell him how I see my game.”
Michkov is getting some significant time on the power play, which hopes to improve greatly this season after four years of misery.
“Three games is not enough time to talk about the power play,” Michkov said. “Need a little bit more time. There are new guys. We need to find the chemistry. Every game gets better and better.”
When asked about the defensive side of his game, Michkov broke into a smile.
“You should play more in the offensive zone,” he cracked. “Be offensive. Then you don’t have to be as defensive as much.”
Tocchet wants to give the whole process a little more time.
“In general, I thought his game was coming last game,” he said. “He needs to know when there is a time to take off and a time when we need him to hang in there. That’s the one thing he’s got to figure out.
“He wants to be an offensive player but you can’t take off when we don’t have the puck. We’re trying to create a culture, it’s not about one player. But he’s a special player. We have to hone his talent. But it has to be a team game. He’s willing to do it.”
>The Zegras shuttle
Trevor Zegras has been shuttling back and forth between center and wing. In training camp, it sounded like Zegras might spend the majority of the time in the middle but it’s a bit of a logjam right now with rookie Jeff Luchanko starting at center on fourth line the past couple games.
“A little bit of a hybrid,” Tocchet said of the Zegras situation. “And ‘Devo’ (Christian Dvorak) is good at that. It’s a work in progress. I thought he (Zegras) did a good job on the wing.”
Tocchet said when Zegras does play center, he needs to improve on his work in the faceoff circle, especially on the power play.
>Andrae staying in
Defenseman Emil Andrae made his season debut on Monday night and his continued stay in the lineup could depend on the status of defenseman Cam York (lower-body injury) who hasn’t been cleared to play yet but remains a possibility for Thursday night’s home game against Winnipeg.
Andrae played pretty well in the Panthers game.
“I thought Andrae did a really nice job,” Tocchet said. “If he doesn’t play tomorrow, or whatever happens, it’s not because of his play. It’s more because of a personnel decision (including the penalty kill). But I thought he did a nice job for us.
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