Records are meant to be broken, but this time, it wasn’t in the cards for Philadelphia Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov.
We previously wrote that Michkov was within reach of tying or breaking the KHL’s U-20 scoring record, which is held by Minnesota Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov. Kaprizov scored 20 goals, 22 assists, and 42 points in 49 games with Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the 2016-17 season – the most ever for a U-20 player playing in the KHL.
Michkov and HC Sochi’s season came to an end on Sunday, and, unfortunately for Michkov and the Flyers, no records were broken in the final game of the season. The 19-year-old needed two points to tie and break Kaprizov’s record, but Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk were able to hold Michkov off the scoresheet entirely.
As a result, Michkov finishes his D+1 KHL season with 19 goals, 22 assists, and 41 points in 48 regular season games. In fairness – partially due to his battle with a case of pneumonia – Michkov played one less game this season than Kaprizov did when he set the record. Alas, the Flyers prospect still had a fair chance to break the record and came up empty-handed.
Michkov had seven shots on goal in a season-high 21:20 of ice time in the 5-2 loss to Neftekhimik on Sunday. Elsewhere in the KHL, fellow Flyers prospect Alexei Kolosov will play his last game of the 2023-24 regular season ahead of Dinamo Minsk’s upcoming postseason campaign.
The final game of the KHL regular season is on Monday, Feb. 26; Kolosov and Dinamo will face Spartak Moscow before the playoffs begin. Kolosov will face a tough task in a first-round matchup with Nikita Gusev, former Flyer Jordan Weal, and the first-place Dynamo Moskva squad on March 1.
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