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Matvei Michkov was the catalyst of the Philadelphia Flyers erasing a 3-0 lead against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night, and although it ended in a 7-5 defeat, the Calder Trophy contender made impressive NHL history in the process.
“Matvei Michkov factored on three of four [Flyers] goals in the second period to help his team erase a three-goal deficit and became the first teenager in franchise history with a three-assist period,” confirmed NHL Public Relations.
The 19-year-old also happened to be the first teenager with three assists in a period since Matthew Tkachuk did it with the Calgary Flames in 2016-17. Now a member of the Panthers, Tkachuk recorded a goal and four assists on Thursday — his fourth career five-point game.
The list of teenagers to record three assists in a period also includes Valeri Nichushkin, Tyler Myers, Erik Johnson, Sidney Crosby, Kirk Muller and Craig Redmond, per NHL Public Relations.
It was a terrific game for Michkov, who is up to second in team scoring with nine goals and 22 points in his first 24 National Hockey League contests. That also has him first among rookies, with Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson a full five points back.
But it was a difficult result for the Flyers, who had won three consecutive games coming into the tilt and had begun to claw back to relevance in both the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference playoff race.
After erasing a three-goal deficit, Philly led 5-4 before letting Florida tie it late and pot a game-winning third period tally on the powerplay. With that, the Flyers are 12-11-3 through 26 games in 2024-25.
Flyers downed late in loss to Panthers
With the score tied 5-5 in the waning minutes of the third period, the Panthers were given a powerplay and took full advantage. Sam Reinhart scored his league-leading 19th goal with 1:59 remaining in regulation; Tkachuk would score into the empty net with just 11 seconds remaining.
“At 3-0 I loved our ability to stay with it and find a way,” Flyers assistant coach Brad Shaw admitted afterwards, per NHL.com's Adam Kimelman. “Take that game and get it 5-4, that's a great sign. The fact that we don't finish it off, that's something we have to work on.”
Despite the disappointing ending, there's reason for encouragement in the City of Brotherly Love. The Flyers are back above .500 after a terrible start and are looking like they could challenge for a postseason berth all campaign long. And that's been without the services of starting goaltender Samuel Ersson, who could return to the lineup as soon as this weekend.
Owen Tippett was also excellent along with Michkov, scoring two goals in the loss. Tyson Foerster, Nick Seeler and Garnet Hathaway also found the back of the net, and Aleksei Kolosov made 16 saves after replacing Ivan Fedotov at the start of the second period. Fedotov allowed two goals on seven shots before being pulled.
The Flyers are off on Friday before heading to Boston to play the Bruins on Saturday afternoon. Puck is set to drop just past 1:00 p.m. ET from TD Garden.
