Matvei Michkov inspires Flyers to another preseason win: “He wants to score goals”

So what did the mild-mannered, normally reserved couturier do? He immediately challenged Sweezey to a fight and won.

Couturier doesn’t drop the gloves often, and his teammates and coaches have noticed.

“Gigantic. That’s how teams are built, right? It’s a brotherhood. You play for each other,” Flyers assistant coach Brad Shaw said, describing how Couturier’s fight affected the bench and the locker room. “Absolutely perfect leadership at this time. Just what we needed. Not surprisingly, we scored shortly after.”

Just 14 seconds away from the struggling Majors, Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen tied the game at 1-1 by answering Hampus Lindholm’s opening goal with a laser beam from the right circle.

Even though Bruins youngster Matt Poitras regained the lead with a shorthanded goal early in the second period, the Flyers began to find their game. The power play – especially Michkov’s unity – created positive dynamics.

And then Michkov took over.

Less than two minutes after Poitras’ goal, the Flyers had another power play when Poitras hooked Scott Laughton.

With Travis Konecny, Michkov rotated from top to bottom, sneaking behind Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei and placing himself directly on the far goal post. Just seconds later, Olle Lycksell’s brilliant pass from the left circle hit Michkov’s stick and bounced into the net, setting up an effortless power play goal.

“Yeah, I’m just trying to feed him,” Lycksell said with a big smile about his support. “And I think he kind of knows the spots where he should be to turn any situation into a good scoring opportunity, and I feel like he really showed that tonight with the goal there.”

“He’s in the post, he’s kind of getting open out there and that’s not his position to begin with. He knows where he has to be to score the goals and that’s great.”

Couturier, who played on a line with Michkov and Konecny ​​on Saturday night, was more impressed with some of the things Michkov did without the puck.

“He wants to score, he wants the puck and he works hard for it,” Couturier added. “That’s what you want to see in a young man. He just works hard.”

“He’s a cheating guy. He goes into these puck battles and thinks, ‘Oh man, it’s too bad we’re not winning this game,’ and then he leaves the puck battle with the puck,” Shaw joked.