After being held without a point through four games, Matvei Michkov watched from the press box on Monday.
The 21-year-old Philadelphia Flyers winger was a healthy scratch for Game 5 of the first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins won the game 3-2 to force a Game 6 on Wednesday.
Michkov has struggled in his first post-season run with the Flyers, seeing his minutes dwindle to an average ice time of 10:06, down from his 14:50 regular-season average.
A seventh-overall pick by the Flyers in 2023, Michkov fell short of expectations in his second season, tallying 20 goals and 31 assists in 81 games — down from 26 goals and 37 assists in his rookie year.
Replacing Michkov in the lineup was Alex Bump, who made the most of his opportunity, answering Pittsburgh's second goal of the game by driving to the net and slotting the puck past Arturs Silovs only 12 seconds later.
"It doesn't intimidate me at all, I love it actually," Bump said of the playoff environment. "I was itching (to get into the lineup)."
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet didn't have a comment on Michkov after the game but praised Bump for his play.
"He's got a start and stop game," Tocchet said. "As much as he has the creativity, the shot, he's got a start and stop game like in piles and stuff, he's stopping and coming up with loose pucks. That's what he's doing for us really well, we've got to get some other guys to kinda play that way."
