Flyers pick up 6-4 win in first game since John Tortorella’s firing; Cam York did not play

The new era of Flyers hockey started with a win.

After coach John Tortorella was fired Thursday morning, the Flyers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 6-4. It snapped a six-game losing streak and gave the hometown team its second win in 13 games.

Brad Shaw earned his first win as the Flyers’ interim head coach, and the 19th of his career. He won 18 games as the interim bench boss with the New York Islanders in 2005-06.

“Before the game, I asked the guys to take a breath, let’s have fun, working hard for one another,” Shaw said. “That’s the essence of the job that they’re presented with every game, and I thought they did a great job with it. It was fun. It’s great getting a win.”

» READ MORE: Flyers GM Danny Brière says decision to fire John Tortorella wasn’t down to ‘one thing’ but ‘a series of things’ since the trade deadline

“It’s a tough day when you go through something like this, but on the other side of it, pretty cool to see Shawzy be able to come in and get a win like that,” added Travis Konecny, who credited Tortorella for getting his game to another level. “It’s just a mix of emotions and you just got to keep moving forward.”

The Flyers played the entire game a man down. Defenseman Cam York did not play a shift but sat on the bench. He was not made available postgame, and according to Shaw, his absence was a disciplinary issue. York is expected to be back in the lineup on Saturday.

“I’ve been through situations, maybe not the same, but difficult times,” said defenseman Travis Sanheim, who is typically York’s partner. “Just try to keep his mind straight, and try to see some positives and try and help him out as best I can. He’s obviously a great player and a big part of this team. We obviously missed him, and hopefully he can get back in.”

Matvei Michkov gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead just 1 minute, 55 seconds into the game. After a dump-in, where Konecny kicked the puck deep on the wraparound, Sean Couturier skated behind the net and corralled it. He passed the puck to Konecny, who sent a quick pass to Michkov alone atop the crease for the goal.

Michkov’s 21st goal of the season tied Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks for the most by a rookie. For a while, it looked like he had a pair (it was credited later to Couturier) and almost scored another on a breakaway attempt, but was stopped by Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes.

He did officially notch his second of the night in the third period to give the Flyers a 6-3 lead. Michkov stripped Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson of the puck in the neutral zone before scoring his 22nd goal, giving him the most goals by a rookie this season.

The Russian phenom had an empty-net chance in the waning seconds for the hat trick but hit the post. Michkov has four multigoal games but zero hat tricks.

“It’s too bad, because I know a lot of people were dying to throw their hats on the ice too,” said Shaw, who was caught by TV cameras throwing his hands in the air after Michkov rang the pipe. “It was a great night already, would have made it even better, especially getting him a hat trick, but maybe he saved it for Saturday.”

Canadiens forward Alex Newhook tied the game up six minutes after Michkov’s first goal in the first period. Newhook carried the puck through the neutral zone and got Jamie Drysdale turned around before beating Flyers goalie Sam Ersson with a snapshot from the left faceoff circle.

But less than two minutes later, Nick Deslauriers scored his first goal since March 16 of last season. Rodrigo Ābols outraced two Canadiens for the puck on a dump-in, and Olle Lycksell got the puck. He sent a quick pass to Deslauriers, and the rugged forward sent an even quicker shot on goal as Dobes was looking the wrong way.

“There’s something to play for, for sure,” Deslauriers said. “I think at the end of the day, it’s upon us — we weren’t good enough, too — so we have to take the blame too. But we did a good job tonight and credit to the coaching staff.”

For a while, it looked like Michkov had his second of the night in the first period, but it was credited to Couturier in the second. Jakob Pelletier got the puck along the boards and came around the right circle, dropping the puck to Michkov, who had just come off the bench. He snapped the puck from the edge of the circle that deflected in off the hand of the Flyers captain.

With the three points, Michkov moved ahead of Celebrini and inched closer to Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson for the points lead with a goal and an assist (54 points). Hutson had two assists to give him 56 points.

Montreal’s Cole Caufield scored from the goal line 2:15 into the third period to make it 3-2, but the Flyers kept coming.

Off an offensive-zone faceoff lost by Noah Cates, Bobby Brink got the puck back to Nick Seeler for a booming shot from the point. Tyson Foerster deflected the shot and then jammed home the rebound to restore the two-goal lead.

Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis challenged the Foerster goal for goaltender interference. But a video review determined Brink “did not impair Dobes’ ability to play his position in the crease” and on the ensuing power play, Couturier kept the puck on a two-on-one and scored past Dobes, giving the Flyers a 5-2 lead.

» READ MORE: A timeline of John Tortorella’s Flyers tenure: The good, the bad, and the uniquely Torts

The Flyers’ first goal in March on the man advantage snapped an 0-for-34 drought dating back to Feb. 27.

“Finally,” Couturier said. “Maybe not the way that we drew it up. But we had some good looks, just can’t finish. But, yeah, maybe it’ll kind of loosen us up a little bit for the upcoming opportunities we get.”

Christian Dvorak cut it to 5-3 before Michkov’s second of the night, and Patrik Laine scored with under 4 minutes to go to make it 6-4.

The assist on Michkov’s goal was Konecny’s 69th point this season, setting a career high. ... Forward Garnet Hathaway missed his 14th straight game with an upper-body injury. … Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen missed his eighth consecutive game with an upper-body injury. … Flyers prospect Alex Bump and Western Michigan defeated Minnesota State 2-1 in double overtime to advance to the second round of the NCAA men’s ice hockey tournament.

The Flyers practice at noon on Friday before hosting the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday (1 p.m., NBCSP, NHLN).