October 24, 2026
Kyle Ross/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov are gradually taking over.
Hunter McDonald, the big 24-year-old defenseman with four games of NHL experience to his name as of Saturday, buried Sam Colangelo into the boards, which drew exceptions and then resulting penalties from the Anaheim forward and his teammate, A.J. Greer, to put the Flyers on a 5-on-3 power play.
Matvei Michkov, the 21-year-old winger in his third season, dropped to a knee and mimicked firing a bow across center ice, after wiring a laser of a shot over Lukáš Dostál's blocker on that two-man advantage to send a jolt through Xfinity Mobile Arena.
About a minute later, Porter Martone, the 19-year-old in his first full NHL season, drifted into abandoned space while still on the power play, tapped in a pass and an open look across the crease from Travis Sanheim, then glided around the corner making the same celebration.
And in between, Cole Knuble (age 22), Denver Barkey (21), and Jacob Gaucher (25) as a checking line hounded after puck carriers and left them on their heels, while Alex Bump (22) and Tyson Foerster (24) got back to looking strong on the puck whenever they had possession.
The youth took over and defined a first period where the Flyers looked set to run away with Saturday in South Philadelphia, in the latest chapter of the unique rivalry that has developed between themselves and the Anaheim Ducks.
And in the big picture, that's huge. The developing names that the Flyers have hung their hopes and future on are rising to the occasion, and in the past week, have been trying to drag the team back from its franchise-worst start.
In the immediate short-term of Saturday, though, it didn't last. Anaheim rallied back to win 5-4, with Leo Carlsson, well known to Philly now after that summer offer sheet attempt, and Cutter Gauthier, still well-hated around these parts as evidenced by the persistent "F--- YOU, CUTTER" chants, finally taking their first knock in this odd rivalry.
So the good...
• Michkov is playing out of his mind right now.
Michkov went on to score twice, cleaning up a third-period bounce from a Noah Cates shot to the front of the net and with Martone crashing in to cause chaos, keeping the Flyers within one.
Michkov left Saturday with a team-leading eight goals and 10 points on the season, with six goals across the last five games alone. With so much to prove this season, he's easily been the Flyers' best forward.
"Just shooting the puck, his confidence, his playmaking ability is of the charts," Cates said of Michkov postgame. "When he's going, he's feeling it, he's making those plays, but he's also playing smart. Skating well, being above and doing those little things, too. He's really helping us kind of get out of that tough stretch to start the year."
• Martone got that second power-play tally to send the Flyers up 2-0, and seems to be settling back into that peel off the wall and fire type of game that made him such a heralded prospect, and with building chemistry on a line with Cates and Michkov – plus a power play unit stacked with him, Michkov, Foerster, Trevor Zegras, and Jamie Drysdale.
"Obviously got off to a rocky start as a team, but I think for us, it's just trying to contribute to this group," Martone said during the first intermission on the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast. "We got a great group in there, and it's just trying to win games, so anything we can do to help the team, we're trying to provide."
The @NHLFlyers strike TWICE on the power play! 🚨🚨
— NHL (@NHL) October 24, 2026
📺: #NHLNShowcase on NHL Network pic.twitter.com/QHOF4TQhFQ
• McDonald threw that big hit on Colangelo clean, but greater than that, he stayed with the play until he took one too many gloves to the face to draw those two penalties in from Colangelo and Greer, which set the Flyers up well.
"Same thing he did in Buffalo, right?" head coach Rick Tocchet called back to from Wednesday night's 3-1 win over the Sabres. "Five minutes left and they take a penalty, [but] you know it's a clean hit, and we win the game that way. You have a guy that's willing to go in there and hit hard – and you want other teams to be undisciplined, too. That's the good thing with Hunter. It's happened a couple times for us."
Hunter McDonald lays a BIG hit on Sam Colangelo, they get into it and then AJ Geer steps in and drops the gloves 😱💥 pic.twitter.com/1mAT8ZcCDh
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 24, 2026
• The Flyers' long-hapless power play converted twice on that big 5-on-3 chance, and now have at least one power-play goal in each of the last four games. Progress.
"I think, honestly, [it's] just keeping it simple," Martone said postgame. "We got a lot of skilled players. I think everyone knows their role on the power play, and I think that's why we've been scoring."
Now the present bad...
• The Flyers went 0-for-4 on the power play the rest of Saturday (2-for-6 in total), when Dostál was controlling his rebounds poorly.
"We got some chances," Martone continued. "It's not like we aren't getting chances, and not every one is gonna go in. I like our tenacity. I like us retrieving pucks, our entries, and hopefully [we'll] capitalize on the next important one."
• The Flyers had all the momentum through that opening period, and had the Ducks falling into a spiral of undisciplined and fragile hockey down 2-0.
Then they let up to bring Anaheim back in it, got sloppy, and left themselves scrambling for a goal at the end that they couldn't get.
"Yeah, I mean, we come out hot, the crowd's amazing, you get up 2-0 going into the second period, and you know, credit to them. They had no quit," said Martone. "But I like our bounce-back there a bit in the third, but we gotta be able to play with the lead."
• Joseph Woll, with the start in net for the Flyers, got flooded from the second period onward and eventually had some tough bounces trickle by him that he couldn't fight off.
The backup netminder had a .917 save percentage entering Saturday, then had five goals allowed tagged to his stat line.
The Flyers aren't worrying much about that, though. It's the play in front of him leaving Saturday that needs to be cleaned up more than anything.
"He's fine," Tocchet shrugged off. "The last thing we're talking about is goaltending. We had great goaltending every night. Some nights, things are gonna go through you. There's a couple of flukey goals, so you know, he'll be fine."
• Gauthier left the ice in Philadelphia, victorious for the first time, and with a clear hand in Anaheim's comeback. That's going to leave the Flyers faithful bitter for a bit.
"That one definitely stings, to blow that one and lose by one goal," Martone said of his first go against the Ducks. "
• The Flyers dropped to 3-7-3 with the regulation loss. They still have a lot of climbing to do.
SIGN UP HERE to receive the PhillyVoice Sports newsletter
Follow Nick on Twitter: @itssnick
Follow Nick on Bluesky: @itssnick
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
