Matvei Michkov’s elite skills and other takeaways from the Flyers’ preseason win vs. the Islanders

Home sweet home.

The Flyers returned to the friendly confines of the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday for their third preseason game. It marked the debut of Matvei Michkov on home ice — and the fans gave him a big welcome when he was announced in the starting lineup and shown on the big screen.

Jett Luchanko also made his debut in Philly. He had a quiet start but built up his involvement as the game wore on.

“He’s playing well,” Travis Konecny said of Luchanko. “If I was expected to do that at his age, and play in the center-ice position, I would have been done a long time ago. He’s a smart kid, you can tell.”

Luchanko worked over some of the opposition in the offensive zone, played tough on the boards and down low in his own end as the centerman, skated on the penalty kill, and was heavily involved in elongated shifts with his linemates, Konecny and Tyson Foerster, in the second and third periods.

» READ MORE: Inside the meticulous process of making the Flyers’ ice at the Wells Fargo Center

“We put a lot on his plate tonight,” said Flyers assistant coach Rocky Thompson, who was serving as the bench boss. “I thought he did a good job. It wasn’t anything special but a learning process.”

Here are three other takeaways from the Flyers’ 2-0 win against the New York Islanders.

Goals are nice, and so are assists but it’s the vision and playmaking ability Michkov has that makes him fun to watch.

The prized prospect is not a straight hard-pass guy or someone who likes the saucer. He does it all, which isn’t a shock considering he had 19 goals and 22 assists last year for Sochi in the Kontinental Hockey League.

“I think they have confidence that he can make a play, to tell you the truth, and so I think they’re ready for it,” Thompson said about Michkov’s linemates, Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett. “I don’t think that he’s surprised them, I think they’re doing a good job of reading it and going to areas where it’s a tough play but they think he can get it done.”

Thursday’s game showcased a complete, all-around game from Michkov where he back-checked, forechecked, and earned his paycheck.

Early in the opening frame he got the puck in the offensive zone on the right boards and found Adam Ginning at the left point with a tape-to-tape pass. Ginning then put a shot-pass down to Frost who had a tip-in opportunity. Three minutes later, Michkov took an outlet pass from Frost and feathered a bank pass to Tippett as he skated down the right wing.

“With a guy like that, that plays with confidence, he’s only going to get better,” Tippett said. “So obviously it’s nice to play with a guy like that and it’s going to be fun. He can make those tight plays and he thinks the game so well.”

In the second period, Michkov showed why he is more than just elite. Skating in the neutral zone, he had the wherewithal to knock the puck down on one knee, and then while still down, chipped it to Frost as he skating through the neutral zone. Frost and Tippett then played hot potato and Frost would have easily scored if not for the impressive play of Islanders defenseman Calle Odelius.

Late in the middle frame, Michkov stole the puck along the right boards in the offensive zone and showed patience before sending a pass over to Tippett in the high slot for a scoring chance.

» READ MORE: Matvei Michkov continues to acclimate himself both on and off the ice: ‘He seems willing to work and learn’

“I don’t think it changes much,” Tippett said when asked if Michkov’s vision impacts his gameplay. “I think, it doesn’t matter where Frosty and I are, he’s going to find us. The more we play together the more the chemistry is going to be there and we’re going to be used to each other. Obviously, there’s some rust right now, and just being together for a couple of games, but the more we get settled and the more we get comfortable with each other it’ll be good.”

And in case you were wondering just how dominating the line was, Natural Stat Trick has them down with 15 shot attempts to seven advantage in five-on-five situations; no other Flyers line had an advantage. Across all strengths, Tippett and Michkov each had seven total shot attempts.

Michkov also had his chances to bury the puck — before he finally did. He had a one-timer chance on the power play from the right faceoff circle off a pass from Frost. He tried to score from the goal line as the goalie leaned but hit the post flush. He earned an assist in the third period as he chased the puck down, got in at the right half wall, and found the trailer, Cam York. Erik Johnson knocked in the York shot that ended up deflecting off the end board — and yes there was a big cheer when Michkov’s secondary assist was announced.

The Russian phenom buried an empty-netter after hitting the post on his first attempt. Another big reaction erupted from him as he jumped into the glass after an even bigger cheer from the Flyers faithful. Sitting on the bench, he was seen giving out fist pounds and Tippett said his excitement is contagious.

“You can tell he loves the game, and he wants to score, wants to be on the offensive side of things,” Konecny added. “We’ve all been giving him a hard time that he hadn’t scored in any of the games yet, so I am sure he was excited about that.”

The Flyers top seven spots on the blue line are all but solidified but that doesn’t mean others can’t infiltrate. And it also won’t prevent them from carrying eight to start the season in Western Canada. Ginning and Emil Andrae are two of the top contenders and they got a chance to impress the Flyers brass on Thursday.

Speaking to The Inquirer following the Flyers morning skate, Andrae said he’s “just going to try and do my best and see what happens.” Well, Andrae made a strong case by showing off his speed, hockey IQ, puck possession and protection along the boards, and elite puck movement. In the first period, he made a strong pass to Johnson for a shot attempt.

“I liked how Andrae was checking, he was moving his feet good. A few times it was close but he was able to recover,” Thompson said. “I thought he kept the game simple and he made a couple of plays at the same time. I thought he played a pretty good game.”

» READ MORE: Flyers’ Emil Andrae trying to elbow his way into a spot on the blue line

Ginning, who had looked impressive thus far in camp, started strong in Thursday’s game but then began to struggle. Asked about Ginning, Thompson thought he did battle through it, which was a positive.

According to Natural Stat Trick, Ginning and his partner Helge Grans were on the ice for 24 shot attempts by the Islanders compared to 13 for the Flyers. Ginning was also credited with four giveaways on the night.

One was a blind backhand pass out of his own end that ended up right on the stick of an Islanders player inside the blue line, leading to a scoring chance. In the second period, he had another bad giveaway in the defensive zone, this time on the penalty kill. Despite having a lot of time, he tried to one-tap a stretch pass but instead, it went right to one of the Islanders for a shot attempt.

It’s early and it was only Sam Ersson’s first game of the preseason, but the goalie was back to being his cool, calm self that he showed off last season.

“It’s nice to get some action early on, nice game actually to see a lot of pucks. I feel like that usually helps just getting back in the rhythm,” said Ersson, who played the full game.

He ended up seeing 37 shots, including 15 in the first period. According to Natural Stat Trick, he saw 31 shots during five-on-five situations with seven coming from high-danger spots and four on rebounds. Always a goalie who tracks the puck well, he made two consecutive stops from atop the crease in the opening frame, with the second save coming via a big kicked out right pad.

“When you watch him here, obviously, you see what he does. But it’s more what he’s doing at the practice rink, what he’s doing during practices, after practices,” Konecny said. “You just see he wants to be better and he wants to be the best he can be and it gives us the confidence.

In the second period, Ersson made a key save on a one-timer in the slot off a pass from the corner and then wrapped the game up in a nice bow.

“I thought he played great,” Thompson said. “He played really good. Even right down to the wire there, at the end, we were up 2-0 and he made a huge save right off the blocker. I thought he looked solid. I thought it was a real confidence builder for him. A really important game, in my opinion, just to kind of get a steady footing for himself in the crease.”