Michkov leads Flyers past Canadiens 6-4 in first game after Tortorella’s firing

Philadelphia Flyers' Matvei Michkov, left, scores past Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes, center, during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton) (Derik Hamilton/AP)

Matvei Michkov had two goals and an assist and the Philadelphia Flyers got off to fast start in their first game after coach John Tortorella’s morning firing, beating the Montreal Canadiens 6-4 on Thursday night.

With Brad Shaw serving as interim coach, Philadelphia ended a six-game losing streak and handed Montreal its fourth straight loss.

Michkov opened the scoring at 1:55 of the first period, assisted on the first of Sean Couturier’s two goals and added his 22nd goal in the third. Tortorella came under scrutiny when he scratched Michkov or benched him for long periods, explaining it was part of a tough-love approach toward with the Russian rookie.

Nicolas Deslauriers and Tyson Foerster also scored, and Samuel Ersson made 26 saves.

Alex Newhook, Cole Caufield, Patrik Laine and Christian Dvorak scored for Montreal. Jakub Dobes stopped 24 shots.

Takeaways

Canadiens: Montreal is in the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Flyers: Philadelphia lost 11 of its last 12 games under Tortorella.

Key moment

Michkov shoveled the puck high into the net against Dobes to give the Flyers the early lead.

Key stat

Michkov had six shots in 20:29 of ice time.

Up next

The Canadiens are at Ottawa on Friday night. The Flyers host Buffalo on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 27, 2024.