John Tortorella Benched Flyers Rookie Matvei Michkov After Heated Shouting Match

It's been some tough sledding for the Philadelphia Flyers over the last few days. After losing 3–0 to the New York Islanders, the team has now been shutout in consecutive games for the first time since November of 2017. It's the fourth time they've failed to score in a game this season, as they've now gone over 120 minutes of game time without a goal.

To make matters worse, coach John Tortorella and rookie winger Matvei Michkov had a major falling out on the bench during Thursday's loss to the Islanders. Midway through the second period, just after New York opened the scoring, Tortorella could be seen chewing out Michkov for leaving the defensive zone early, which enabled the Islanders to score.

The two were seen in a shouting match on the bench, after which Michkov did not take another shift. He ended Thursday's game with just 8:30 of ice time, the second time in the games he's been on the ice for fewer than 10 minutes.

It appears Torts has benched Matvei Michkov for the rest of the game. Hasn’t played since the 10 minute mark in the 2nd period pic.twitter.com/XmOEDjJ6mT
— Nasty Knuckles (@NastyKnuckles) January 31, 2025

Michkov has been one of the lone bright spots for Philadelphia this season, but he and Tortorella haven't always seen eye to eye.

Tortorella discussed his decision to bench Michkov after the game.

"You may not believe it, but it's for the right reason because we care about him ... And I'm not going to fail him by cowering away from situations that people may second guess. We're going to it the right way with this kid, because we think he's that special," said the Flyers coach.

The 20-year-old has 34 points including 14 goals during his rookie season, but has struggled in January, registering just five points in 15 games. He'll look to get back on track during Philadelphia's next game which is slated for Sunday, Feb. 2 against the Colorado Avalanche.