PHILADELPHIA – When one of the proven leading scorers of a team snaps out of a scoring slump, it can lift the collective psyche of an entire roster.
No one is suggesting that back-to-back games with goals by Matvei Michkov after a nine-game drought can necessarily change the outcome of games, but they certainly don’t hurt.
Michkov connected in the second period of Saturday afternoon’s game against the Ottawa Senators at the Xfinity Mobile Arena to snap the Flyers out of their first-period stupor and get them to within 2-1 on the scoreboard.
On Thursday night, Michkov scored at Nashville for only his second goal of the season through 14 games. Last season he led the Flyers with 26 goals.
This turnaround had him smiling a bit on Saturday afternoon even though the Flyers lost in overtime. The team knows the young Russian is starting to find his game after his off-season training regimen was slowed by an ankle injury.
“Every game I feel better and better,” Michkov said through an interpreter. “(Through) hard work, it’s going to come soon. Finally healthy.”
Michkov looks a step quicker in the past week or so. He’s still taking the occasional bad penalty but that should go away soon as he regains his speed and agility.
The Nashville game was a weight off his shoulders.
“When I score, I feel like I’m lifted, like I’m light on the ice,” Michkov said. “When you think about it too much, the body feels heavy. Everything feels heavy. When you score, you feel ready to go and your body feels a lot better.”
According to coach Rick Tocchet, it was just a matter of time until Michkov got going.
“Guys that are goal-scorers or play-maker guys, when you can get that something on the scoresheet, even that cheap second assist, it ignites you,” Tocchet said. “Couple games here where he’s found his way.”
So much of Michkov’s game is predicated on speed and agility. That’s been missing for quite some time but it’s starting to come back.
Michkov hasn’t been playing on the first power play and doesn’t take a regular turn on the penalty kill, so in games like Saturday’s, in which he only played 14 minutes, there’s going to be limited ice time.
“Not being on the first power play, that’s two or three minutes,” Tocchet said.
Travis Konecny likes what he sees.
“He had some good looks,” Konecny said. “A guy like him, you want him to get going offensively.”
>Konecny take on comebacks
In a third of their games this season, the Flyers have rallied late to earn at least a point. There’s a good side to that and maybe a not-too-good side to that.
“We’re just back to playing the way we’re supposed to,” Konecny said after the Flyers throttled the Senators over the last 40 minutes of regulation time to earn a point. “We came out flat. It’s just something we just can’t continue to do. We’ve been doing it too much.”
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