Michkov, Flyers complete comeback against Blackhawks in OT
Forward scores at 1:06 after Philadelphia trailed by 2 in 3rd; Mrazek makes 34 saves for Chicago
Blackhawks at Flyers | Recap
PHILADELPHIA — Matvei Michkov scored a power-play goal at 1:06 of overtime and the Philadelphia Flyers rallied for a 3-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.
Travis Konecny passed through the crease to Michkov, who scored from the right post.
It was Michkov’s second overtime goal in the past five games; he scored to give the Flyers a 5-4 comeback win against the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 14.
“There’s not many moments you’re going to get,” Michkov said through an interpreter. “When you get the moment, you have to be cold-blooded and finish it.”
Sean Couturier and Noah Cates scored for Philadelphia (9-10-2), which trailed 2-0 after the second period. Aleksei Kolosov made 19 saves.
CHI@PHI: Michkov caps nifty Flyers passing on power play with an overtime winner
“We kept our patience,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “I don’t think we played poorly by any means, but when we’re down 2-0, we had chances, we couldn’t finish. … I appreciate how the guys just stayed together, kept on playing.”
Lukas Reichel and Patrick Maroon each had a goal and an assist for Chicago (7-12-2), and Mrazek made 34 saves. It was the Blackhawks fourth straight road loss (0-3-1).
“I think we just spent too much time in our [defensive] zone,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “Really, most of the game. Our goalie was great all game, but just a couple breakdowns on face-offs and in the zone. Just a little bit of panic in our game when we get the puck in the zone, and we’re just not making plays. We’re just kind of flipping it out, not getting through that neutral zone. So really, that leads to more D-zone coverage.”
Michkov has six points (three goals, three assists), including two game-winning goals, in six games since being scratched for two games Nov. 7-9.
CHI@PHI: Couturier puts the pass into the twine to get Flyers on the board
“I think we’ve seen his offensive side of the game since Day 1 of camp,” Couturier said. “I think he’s still learning the defensive side of the game. He’s learning, he’s improving every day, and he wants to get better. It’s nice to see him grow as a player and I’m sure it’s just the beginning.”
Michkov said he’s starting to feel more comfortable with life in North America four months after coming over from his native Russia.
“Slowly but slowly, feeling confident game by game,” he said.
The Flyers started their push when Couturier scored from in front of the net to make it 2-1 at 7:27 of the third.
Cates tied it 2-2 at 10:05 with a long-range shot with teammate Cam York screening Mrazek. It was York’s first game after missing 13 because of an upper-body injury.
“We got frustrated at times, but we stuck together and stuck to the same style of play,” Couturier said. “We came back, showed some character in the third and capitalized on our chances and found a way to get the two points.”
CHI@PHI: Cates flings puck into traffic and ties the game up at 2 in 3rd
Reichel made it 1-0 at 11:29 of the first period on a one-timer from the right side to finish a 3-on-2 rush. It was his first goal in 11 games.
Maroon scored to make it 2-0 at 10:01 of the second period when his backhand from the right circle went under Kolosov’s pads. It was the forward’s first goal in 33 games, dating to Jan. 2 of last season when he was with the Minnesota Wild.
It was the fourth time in five games the Blackhawks allowed at least two goals in the third period; in three of them they were tied or leading entering the third, but lost all three.
“We’ve got to play with confidence,” Maroon said. “We’ve had the lead in the third period against really good hockey teams and we’ve lost a lot of games, and this is one of them again. We lost the lead every time in the third period. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to have confidence. We’ve got to play with structure. We’ve got to make it boring for them, get pucks in, grind them down low. We have moments of that, but we’ve got to do that for a full 60 and in the third period too, we can’t sit back. We’ve got to go.”
NOTES: Michkov, 19, is the eighth teenager in NHL history with multiple overtime goals. Only three players (Ilya Kovalchuk, Rick Nash, Sidney Crosby; three each) have more. … It was the third time in the past five games the Flyers have scored at least two goals in the third period. … Philadelphia forward Scott Laughton had a game-high and NHL career-best eight shots on goal. … York had one shot on goal and one blocked shot in 20:00 of ice time in his first game since Oct. 23. … Flyers defenseman Emil Andrae had two shots on goal in 24:05 of ice time after missing two games because of a mid-body injury. … Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard was held without a shot on goal for the second straight game. It’s the first time in his two NHL seasons he’s gone consecutive games without a shot. … Philadelphia assigned forward Anthony Richard to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League before the game.