NEW YORK – Matvei Michkov vowed he would do better down the stretch.
No one can doubt that for now.
The Flyers young Russian scored twice, including the overtime winner, as Philadelphia rallied for a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
And this win, in which they overcame a 2-0 deficit, ended the Flyers’ eight-game losing streak in games going past regulation.
These were two valuable points and the Flyers can thank a confident Michkov for the win. His translator was not on this trip, so it was up to his teammates and his coach to sing his praises.
The overtime goal was a sensational play. Michkov broke in on goaltender Igor Shesterkin, made a deke and slid the puck through the five-hole.
“I mean that second one was just a hell of a goal,” coach Rick Tocchet said after the game. “Shesterkin is a hell of a goalie. He went five-hole, he sold it. That’s the stuff that he can do.
“Hopefully this will (get him going). So he’s getting some confidence here.”
Travis Konecny knows what Michkov can do. After all, he led the Flyers in goals with 26 last season.
“He’s playing great, he looks fast,” Konecny said. “He looks like he’s confident with the puck.”
The Flyers need more efforts like this if they want to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot.
“The second, third period, overtime we were just kind of playing our game,” Noah Cates said. “Playing north, making it hard for them. We know how big the points are. A bunch of must-wins. We have to make up some ground. Especially division opponents. It’s good for this group to play that way and get ready for it.”
Zegras feels the same way about the urgency factor.
“Twenty-five games left, they’re all playoff games for us,” he said. “We have to do something special down the stretch to get in. We all know that.”
Earlier, the Flyers gave up one goal on a harmless shot from above the circles, then surrendered another on a defensive blunder before they started their comeback.
First they got a power-play goal from Michkov at 10:25 of the second period, followed by a tying goal from Zegras by way of a nice outlet pass from Konecny 39 seconds into the third period.
Goaltender Sam Ersson allowed that crazy first New York goal, then settled down and played rather well after that.
“We’ve been in a lot of these close games,” Tocchet said. “It’s a big two points for us. I love ‘Ers.’ Obviously a tough first goal. But he battled. I think after him letting that (first) goal in, him diggin’ in, he should have a lot of confidence. We told him goals like that are going to happen. That’s where you have to have resolve. We’ll get him in there again and see how he goes.”
The only goal of the first period came on the aforementioned fluke shot by the Rangers’ Sam Carrick. He worked free from a check along the boards above the circle and sent a looping puck past a stunned Ersson at 9:56.
This was Ersson’s first action since a game at Boston (a 6-3 loss) on Jan. 29.
The Rangers made it 2-0 at 1:23 of the second on a goal from Alex Lafreniere, who was left wide open in front. Then the Flyers began their big comeback.
>Andrae back
After sitting out the last five games before the Olympics break, defenseman Emil Andrae was back in the lineup on Thursday night.
Andrae entered the game at plus-11, second-best on the team and tops among defensemen.
“I think he played his best hockey when he was first called up,” Tocchet said before the game. “He’s good on the breakout, good at wheeling the puck which is good. It’s just when he tries to do too much. Making passes in the middle of the ice. Being out of position. That’s growing as a young defenseman.”
>Penalty killers killing it
Since Jan. 10, the Flyers headed into Thursday night’s game fifth in the NHL in penalty kill percentage at 88.5 percent. They had allowed only three PP goals in the last 10 games.
>Shorthanded leaders
Since Dec. 20, the Flyers have led the NHL in shorthanded goals with five.
>Short shots
The Flyers head home to face the Boston Bruins on Saturday. It’s a 3 p.m. start. . .Cam York entered Thursday night’s game needing one point to reach the 100 milestone. . .Rangers coach Mike Sullivan, who coached Team USA to the gold medal in the recent Winter Olympics, received a big hand from the Garden crowd before the game.
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