Matvei Michkov Scores Twice, but Flyers Fall in Overtime to Bruins
Dec 7, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Pavel Zacha (18) celebrates after scoring the game winning goal in overtime on Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Aleksei Kolosov (35) as defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (55) skates away at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images
Clearly, there is something about overtime hockey the Flyers are just obsessed with right now.
The Flyers made their way up to Boston for an afternoon game against the Bruins today, but unfortunately are not coming home with a win. They fell 4-3 in overtime after holding two separate two-goal leads. Like most of their games this season, there was a healthy mix of good and bad things to analyze.
Starting with the good, Matvei Michkov is unbelievable. A little under halfway through the first period he turned a Philly power play into the first goal of the game. This was his tenth goal of the season, making him the first rookie to reach double-digit goals. Clearly not satisfied, he would find the back of the net again at the end of the period to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead.
The Bruins would get a power play of their own early in the second period to cut the lead in half, but Cam York would push that lead back up to two before the period ended. Travis Konecny was credited with an assist on this goal to bring his team-leading point total up to 31.
That pretty much wraps it up for the good. Now let’s look at the bad. In the third period, Boston was able to put up twice as many shots as the Flyers, with 12 to Philly’s six. Aleksei Kolosov was beaten on two of these 12 shots, tying the game for Boston at 3-3.
Kolosov’s performance overall was pretty standard. It was not terrible per se, as the goals he allowed were more so the result of poor defense, but it wasn’t anything spectacular either. It certainly wasn’t the type of performance that would make the Flyers want to keep him on the roster over Ivan Fedotov when Samuel Ersson makes his return, which should be very soon.
Once overtime rolled around the Bruins only needed one shot to end the game. Boston wins 4-3.
A performance like this from Philly starts to make you think that all these extra minutes they’re spending on the ice are beginning to have a cumulative effect on the team. It’s good that they’re getting a lot of high-leverage game-day experience but there is a point where that much extra hockey becomes detrimental to a team.
The Flyers need to learn how to play with a lead. It feels as though they do their best work when they’re in a hole and working from behind, which is good, but not where they should be thriving. The Flyers want to be a good hockey team. Good hockey teams win games. You win games by holding a lead. Overtime game winners are fun but that cannot be how you win every game. This is the next step we need to see in the evolution of this Philadelphia Flyers team.
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Bo Lynett
Bo has been a fan of Philly sports his whole life and has spent the entirety of his four years at Colgate University working to start a career in sports media. Double majoring in Economics and Film & Media Studies gave him the opportunity to study both the financial/ analytical and broadcasting/ production sides of the sports world. Outside of the classroom, he’s worked as a director and producer for Colgate’s athletic events streamed on ESPN+ and a writer for the Colgate Athletic Website. Through all of this, however, it was his love of Philly sports that drove him to this career.
