It is happening again.
Matvei Michkov got his first taste of the famous John Tortorella benching during last week’s game against the Blues, as he found himself sitting for a few rotations of his line during the first period as Tortorella sought to have him settle down a bit, sit with a critique they gave him, and just watch for a moment. The lesson seemed to take, and he was right back out there with his line for the remainder of the game. A small bit of drama, but quickly smoothed over.
If the hope was that it would be a while before Michkov was stuck in a similar situation again, we would be quickly disappointed — in tonight’s game down in Raleigh against the Hurricanes, which quickly started to spiral on the Flyers, Michkov took a shift around the eight minute mark of the period, and something must have cropped up with displeased Tortorella, because he found himself stapled to the bench from then on out.