Matvei Michkov meets the moment, scores first goal in thrilling Flyers debut: ‘He’s something special’

ALLENTOWN — Matt Biegel drove from South Jersey, as did Jarrid Saraullo. Seamus DiMauro drove 25 miles north from Gilbertsville with his wife and two kids, while Justin Gross came from within city limits.

Although they boast different home bases, they descended onto the PPL Center for one reason: to see Matvei Michkov.

“He’s something special. ... The Flyers haven’t had a generational talent like this since Eric Lindros, so it’s just something to be really excited about, to have a natural sniper finally on this team,” said Gross, who was wearing, what else, a Michkov jersey.

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In fact, they all were wearing Michkov apparel, including DiMauro’s kids, Callum, 3, and Cora, who turns 6 in October. The young Flyers fans had on Michkov T-shirts — although, for the record, Cora is a Cam York fan first and foremost — that DiMauro waited six weeks to get.

They came at the perfect time.

On Friday night under the bright lights of the home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Michkov made his North American pro debut for the Flyers in the first of two rookie games against their New York Rangers counterparts. The Flyers played to a 4-3 shootout loss.

Those same fans, who spent so much money on jerseys and apparel, who watched highlight clips and Kontinental Hockey League games, finally got to see the guy wearing No. 39 right in front of them.

“I think it’s the skill. Like, just not having really seen that outside of, like, [Claude] Giroux, [Jakub] Voráček at times, different guys like that. I think the optimism about seeing that kind of skill in a Flyer jersey is just really appealing,” said Biegel, whose other jersey is a Lindros one, bought many years ago.

So, what makes Michkov so appealing?

Is it the high-end stickhandling? How about the ability to snipe and create scoring chances from anywhere on the ice — including the goal line, where he tried to score a few times on Rangers goalie Dylan Garand? Could it be the creativity he brings? (To much disappointment, he didn’t try “a Michigan” lacrosse-style scoop shot but he did try to replicate the Trevor Zegras-Sonny Milano alley-oop goal.) Or maybe it is the grit, snarl, and edge to his game as he found himself in the middle of not one, but a few scrums?

Or maybe, just maybe, it’s the never-say-die attitude approach he brings?

The day before his first game, Michkov said he may be a little nervous to start but once warmups are over, he’ll be good. If there were nerves, they weren’t obvious at any point. And if they were even a twinge, he had his buddies to help him out.

Winger Samu Tuomaala chatted with Michkov for a while and appeared to be taking him through how the running of lines would work during warmups. Later, forward Matt Miller skated over to Michkov on the boards, and the pair passed the puck back and forth like two grizzled veterans who had made it part of their pregame routine years ago.

And he also had the fans like Biegel, Saraullo, Gross, and the DiMauros. Michkov jerseys often were spotted in the crowd alongside the Konecnys, Farabees, Tippetts, Drysdales, and those of older Flyers legends. The fans cheered when he hit the ice for the first time and as he skated around, they welcomed the Perm, Russia, native with signs in his native language. One asked for a puck and another, politely, asked him to “Go score a goal.”

Well, ask and you shall receive.

Although his first shift alongside center Jett Luchanko and left winger Elliot Desnoyers was a little bumpy, and most of the Flyers struggled out of the gate, Michkov and his mates eventually turned it on. In the second period, after a few close chances, a few more he set up, and some getting-to-know-yous with the Rangers, Michkov notched his first goal in a Flyers uniform.

During a five-on-three power play, he received a touch pass from Luchanko at the right post. He then used those quick hands that everyone has talked about and tucked the puck past Garand’s outstretched pads and around the post.

Michkov skated around with his hands in the air in an “are-you-not-entertained?” pose and appeared to be asking for cheers. He then punched the glass to celebrate his goal.

“Such a nice feeling to score my first goal,” Michkov said afterward with Flyers defenseman and fellow Russian Egor Zamula serving as translator.

“[My] mom and brother are here to watch the game from upstairs,” he added. “So I am happy because my family sees my first goal, and it’s a goal for my family.” As Zamula translated, Michkov seemed to get a little emotional next to him.

But what probably stood out the most to everyone in attendance, and something that Flyers coach John Tortorella surely had to like, was the drive and hunger to win. With the game tied, 2-2, and then with the Flyers trailing, 3-2, in the third period, Michkov did everything he could to get the game tied up. He set up his linemates; crashed the net and followed up on a rebound; and got robbed by the glove of Garand on a shot from the right circle.

“He’s a special player, and you can tell,” said Phantoms coach Ian Laperrière, who double-shifted Michkov in the final frame. “... Just to have him on the bench, it’s fun because he loves it. You can’t tell he loves the game. He wants to be out there, and he was out there quite a bit.”

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“That’s impressive,” Laperrière added, when asked about a sequence in the third where Michkov fended guys and tried to score. “He’s 19 years old, you can’t forget. I know there’s a huge buzz around him, around the league, not only in Philly. But he handles it great and he makes plays like that. I can’t say it enough, it’s only two days that I’ve been skating with him, but it’s pretty impressive.”

The Flyers didn’t skate away the victors, although they certainly tried. Michkov had a handful of chances in overtime and he came a post away from scoring in the shootout. A game-winning goal would have been quite a topper to the debut.

But now his eyes surely are turning to bigger moments.

Michkov will not skate in Saturday’s finale of the rookie series as he gears up for his first NHL training camp, which begins Thursday with Tortorella’s dreaded rope skating test. That’ll be another first for the young Russian who had his first-ever burrito over the summer — according to Hunter McDonald it was at Pancheros, just down the road from the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees — and now has his first game and first goal in a Flyers jersey.

And soon enough it’ll be his first NHL game and then his first home opener at the Wells Fargo Center. Fans are already counting down the days.

“It was fun,” McDonald said. “Every time he got out there there was kind of a cheer. So there was that good buzz, and hopefully everyone can keep feeding off that. But he’s special.”