Matvei Michkov and the Flyers are thriving in OT. But John Tortorella still sees room for improvement.
The Flyers are 7-3 in OT and the shootout while Michkov’s three OT goals are tied with Sidney Crosby for the most by a teenage rookie in NHL history.
When Jake Neighbours scored the tying goal for the St. Louis Blues with 20 seconds left in regulation Saturday, there may have been a few bad words said as the delete button was held down in the press box.
Thankfully, there are also undo buttons because 48 seconds later Matvei Michkov backhanded one past Jordan Binnington on an overtime breakaway.
It’s something that has become an old hat now for the Flyers. In their first 25 games, 10 have gone to overtime or a shootout — including eight of the past 12. For comparison’s sake, in 82 games last season, 19 went to extra lengths, and 18 the season before.
“I have no idea,” coach John Tortorella said when asked why there’s been an uptick.
“Yeah,” winger Owen Tippett said while laughing when asked if it’s become a running joke in the room. “Obviously, we don’t like getting there, but sometimes it’s the way it goes, and obviously we’re comfortable in that situation. We stay patient throughout games, and no different when in overtime. We’re a confident group in here. When it’s three-on-three, we believe in our team.”
“Ya gotta believe” may be a Tug McGraw line famously said in another city but it works in Philly too. There is reason to leave the arena early or turn off the game assuming a loss — like you may have done the past two seasons when the Flyers amassed a combined 13-24 record in overtimes and shootouts.
Meet the 2024-25 Flyers who are 7-3 after regulation ends, with four wins coming in overtime. The lone OT loss came in the third game of the season on a goal by the Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl and Edmonton leads the NHL with five overtime wins, in large thanks to their star duo of Draisaitl and Connor McDavid.
“We’ve had a lot of overtime games lately. We’ve been able to work on that game probably a little more than we want to,” forward Garnet Hathaway said after the win in St. Louis. “But I think you just see it kind of comes to the work ethic that guys have. I don’t think we hesitated as a group when they tied it up either time.”
Of the Flyers’ four overtime goals, one was scored by captain Sean Couturier last week’s shocking comeback win against the Nashville Predators. The other three belong to Michkov who becomes an even bigger threat during the wide-open three-on-three action. He is one of four teenagers to score three overtime winners, with he and Sidney Crosby the only two to accomplish that as rookies. He has three more games to try and surpass Crosby, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Rick Nash before turning 20 on Dec. 9. Not bad company to be among.
“Hopefully he gets it,” Tippett said with a smile.
As Tortorella promised on Monday, the Flyers worked on three-on-three during Wednesday’s practice. A coach who loves overtime — and thinks the shootout should be abolished — he’s been happy with the scoring but is concerned about how his group is defending in the extra session.
“We have no clue without the puck,” he said Monday.
“Mich, he’s fantastic at scoring the goals, but I got to figure out a way,” he added. “Travis Konecny is the same way, he’s an idiot too, as far as defending. But I’ve got to let them be themselves. We’ve got to figure out some way to make sure we’re also defending just a little bit. That’s what you have to ask these athletes now, just a little bit please, without affecting what they’re good at. That’s the fine line we have to [straddle], at least the way I feel but I’m not sure if other coaches feel, because it’s a gong show.”
» READ MORE: Q&A: Flyers president Keith Jones talks Matvei Michkov, prospects, the goalie situation, and more
So on Wednesday, while some of the team remained on the other practice rink, 12 players went through the paces of three-on-three. Was Tortorella getting a little exacerbated at times? Sure looked like it from the perch overlooking the rink.
They went through a bunch of rotations and Tortorella thought his Russian star, who will get lots of playing time in the extra session, was starting to understand more.
“Don’t get me wrong, we’re not trying to turn this into defending,” Tortorella said on Wednesday. “We’re just trying to get some sort of comfort level, especially for Mich. We made a change today to make it easier for him, because I’m using him, right? I just want him to understand some sort of concept of when we don’t have the puck.
“We’re going to wing it, we’re going to take chances, and we’re not going to play safe. But I just want a little bit of a foundation for him.”
Breakaways
Couturier did not practice and Tortorella said he had a maintenance day. ... Tortorella said Sam Ersson is an option for Thursday’s home game against the Florida Panthers. Ersson was in goal for the Flyers’ 4-3 shootout loss to the Panthers on Nov. 9 but hasn’t played since getting the shootout win over the San Jose Sharks two nights later. ... Forward Nicolas Deslauriers left practice early. Tortorella wasn’t sure exactly what happened but said something tightened up and he thought it happened when he was shooting early in the session and got worse as things went on. ... Flyers prospect Jack Berglund has been named to Sweden’s World Junior squad. Berglund was selected in the second round of June’s draft.
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