Flyers Earn First Divisional Win on Shoulders of Matvei Michkov, Denver Barkey

Over the years, the Flyers have made a clear bad habit of starting their games slowly, dating back to former head coach John Tortorella's reign with the team.

An early two-goal deficit proved surmountable, though, as the Flyers dedicated their 4-3 comeback win to longtime Flyers physician Dr. Gary Dorshimer, who passed away on Saturday.

A wildly sluggish start to the contest saw the Flyers spot the Blue Jackets two early goals, with Dmitri Voronkov and Matthew Knies scoring exactly one minute apart to take a commanding 2-0 lead less than five minutes into the first period.

After the goal from Knies, though, the Flyers began to wake up and find their legs in the last game of this road trip, and after winning a board battle on the left wing wall, Tyson Foerster wired a no-look pass across the ice to Trevor Zegras, who blasted the puck past Jet Greaves to bring the Flyers within a goal at 2-1.

With wind in their sails heading into the middle stanza, the Flyers were primed to stage a comeback, and they did so with aplomb.

Just 1:19 into the second period, Matvei Michkov, amid all the trade controversy, made an amazing defensive play, sneaking up on Adam Fantilli, stick-lifting the Blue Jackets forward at the blue line, and racing down the other way for a breakaway goal on Greaves.

"I mean, that's a high-level, unreal play. He's played really well, like every game. I thought Vancouver, he had a really good game. Obviously, Edmonton, he played a ton. Those are big goals," Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said of Michkov after the win.

"If you look at it, Columbus right away, 2-0. We needed some kind of a spark, and obviously Mich gave us a spark with that goal."

With his breakaway goal, Michkov improved his Flyers-leading tally to 11 goals on the year.

Just over a minute later, with the Flyers on a power play, fellow youngster Denver Barkey joined in on the scoring, receiving a pass from Porter Martone, pivoting, and firing past Greaves to give the Flyers their first lead of the contest at 3-2.

Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived, as an unlucky bounce fell to Fantilli right between Flyers defensemen Cam York and Jamie Drysdale, allowing the Blue Jackets forward to beat goalie Joseph Woll from distance to even the score.

Over halfway through the third period, Barkey struck again, illustrating exactly what the Flyers want out of their youth movement.

A strong offensive zone steal from Noel Acciari led to an impromptu 2-on-1 rush attempt, and Barkey buried his shot accordingly to provide the eventual dagger, giving the Flyers a 4-3 lead.

After a slow start to the season coming back from an injury that hindered his training camp and preseason preparation, Barkey has four goals, four assists, and eight points in his last 12 games for the Flyers.

With his goal, Zegras has his first point in five games, and first goal since Oct. 27, which ironically came in the dreadful 4-3 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets.

The most underrated aspect of Saturday's 4-3 win against the Blue Jackets is the fact that the Flyers have earned their first win against a divisional opponent this season.

Now, they've improved to 1-4-3 this season against Metropolitan Division rivals with lots of hockey left to play, though the hole they've dug for themselves is still considerable, to say the least.

This grind isn't ending for the Flyers anytime soon, either, as they will have to face Connor McDavid and the Oilers once again on Sunday night in what will be the second leg of a back-to-back.

After also hosting the Sabres on Tuesday, the Flyers will be back on the road again, just like that. That's why stealing an away game against a divisional opponent like they did against the Blue Jackets on Saturday was so crucial.