San Jose Sharks at Philadelphia Flyers

Matvei Michkov helps the Flyers beat the Sharks 4-3 in shootout

Michkov returned to the lineup after he was a healthy scratch for two consecutive games.

Travis Konecny and Erik Johnson also scored for the Flyers, who had lost three of four.

Mikael Granlund had a goal and an assist for the Sharks. William Eklund and Barclay Goodrow also scored in regulation for San Jose.

After both teams missed their first shots in the tiebreaker, Michkov deked from his backhand to his forehand to beat Vitek Vanecek. Konecny then clinched it with a shot high over Vanecek.

Only Nashville (11 points) and Montreal (10) entered with fewer points than San Jose and Philadelphia, with each beginning play with 12 points.

Michkov was the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 draft from Russia. The 19-year-old forward was scratched on Philadelphia’s recent road trip to Florida by coach John Tortorella, who apparently wasn’t pleased with the rookie’s play away from the puck in recent games.

Samuel Ersson made 28 saves for the Flyers. Vanecek had 40 stops.

Takeaways Sharks: San Jose has been outscored this season 59-40.

Flyers: Philadelphia is clearly a better offensive team with Michkov in the lineup.

Key moment After Johnson opened the scoring, Givani Smith got physical with Michkov after a faceoff. Johnson quickly stepped in and defended the rookie, dropping the gloves with Smith. The Flyers rallied behind the fight, scoring the next two goals to take a 3-0 lead.

Key stat Michkov has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 14 games.

Up next The Sharks continue a four-game eastern road trip at the Rangers on Thursday. Philadelphia plays at Ottawa on Thursday.

PHI leads series 1-0