After a very rough start to the season with SKA, Michkov would be loaned to Sochi halfway through the month and would get the top six playing time he earned and ended the month with 7 points in 7 games with Sochi.
October 2 vs SKA St. Petersburg
A game I’m sure Michkov was waiting for, he finally got to face his former team since being misused and loaned. He showed Roman Rotenberg just how good he is.
The first period was the start of his revenge. A little over 4 minutes into the game, down by one, Michkov would make a spin-o-rama pass to his teammate who gave it right back to him with a backhand pass to allow him to tie the game up at 1.
The second period would have Michkov show no signs of slowing down. A little under halfway through the period, Michkov found a streaking teammate coming into the offensive zone who would take his pass and send it cross-crease and banked in by a teammate giving Michkov the secondary assist.
Late in the third, on the power play, Michkov would make a nice little move to create separation and pass the puck away, but he would get the pass back on the right wall and found an open man in the slot who deflected the puck to the back of the net and gave Michkov a primary assist and third point.
Michkov has 4 goals and 6 assists for 10 points in 9 games this season.
October 5 vs Severstal
Matvei Michkov continues to buzz with Sochi. Michkov is still on their top power play unit and had several nice looks and chances on the power play. Prior to that power play, Michkov got a little feisty as he challenged an opponent who had hit his teammate. After the power play, he got a pass from Artyum Volkov after finding an open space on the opposite of the crease and had a pretty easy goal.
Michkov was buzzing around the ice for the rest of the game, but was unable to find the scoresheet, though Sochi was able to secure the win.
Michkov has 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points in 10 games.
October 7 vs Severstal
Michkov got off to a hot start in the game as he picked up an assist in the first goal of the game, which would be Sochi’s only goal in a 10-1 routing, but not for a lack of trying on Michkov’s part. Michkov had four other moments where he could’ve gotten a point.
Michkov would pull off a nasty deke to get around the defender, but the goalie stood tall and denied him. Michkov had another opportunity for a goal and beat the goalie five-hole, but the puck hit the far post.
The next two opportunities were for assists. One chance came when Michkov came from behind the net and found an open teammate on the slot who shot the puck right into the goalie’s chest. Later on, Michkov found another teammate who was coming into the offensive zone, but his teammate shot it over the net.
Michkov has 5 goals and 7 assists for 12 points in 11 games.
October 9 vs CSKA Moscow
The whole game wasn’t really high-scoring. Michkov was seen everywhere on the ice doing the right things like forechecking, backchecking, and board-play.
Late in the third is where things got really interesting. Trailing by 1, CSKA pulled their goalie and when Michkov got on the ice he tried long shots into the empty net but just missing, twice. Once from the top of the circles in his defensive end and the other from the neutral zone. And was the same way, all over the ice, during OT against CSKA who had their goalie pulled basically the entirety of overtime.
Michkov has 5 goals and 7 assists for 12 points in 12 games.
October 16 vs Spartak Moscow
Michkov would miss two games as he was out sick. And it kinda showed in his first game back. Michkov didn’t play bad, but it was pretty evident that he had been sick and missed a week.
Michkov still played right, making all the right moves. Setting up chances that wouldn’t get finished, but Michkov was able to get a power play goal in the third to make the game 4-1 in the third in an eventual 5-2 loss.
Michkov has 6 goals and 7 assists for 13 points in 13 games.
October 18 vs Spartak
This game was pretty uneventful for Michkov as well. He looked worse than he did in his first game back. Looked pretty sluggish, but he still had some chances and went to the right place. The one thing you notice about him and his game is that he is absolutely insanely smart in terms of hockey IQ. Also, he’s not afraid to get in to dirty areas and even stand up for his teammates, and himself. Michkov would be held pointless, despite a few chances.
Michkov has 6 goals and 7 assists for 13 points in 14 games
October 20 vs Barys Astana
Before we get into the game, there was a great announcement earlier on Friday where Michkov was selected as a KHL All Star. He did not get chosen in the fan vote, but was chosen by the media.
Michkov had more pep in his step this game than the previous two, but seems like he was dealing with something serious. I feel like a broken record when I keep saying that Michkov is just so damn smart, with and without the puck. Michkov, less than a minute into the game, set up a good chance with a behind-the-net pass to a teammate out in front.
The third period is where he had most of his big plays. At the start of the period, Michkov attempted to pull off the Michigan, but the puck wouldn’t stay on his stick. Around the middle of the third, Michkov sprawled out to block a shit on an empty net, but another teammate of his got hit with the shot instead. Then in the waning moments of the game, literally 1 or 2 seconds left, Michkov got a one-time goal on the power play, but Sochi would lose 5-3.
Michkov has 7 goals and 7 assists for 14 points in 15 games.
October 27 vs SKA
After a riveting revenge game by Matvei Michkov, he was a bit more quiet during this game. He had a solid game overall. The thing that you really start to notice about Michkov in all these games is that his hockey sense is just so high. Even if he and his linemates aren’t finishing they are getting a lot of high-scoring chances usually with Michkov somewhere there in the middle.
If I’m going to be completely honest, this was probably his least impressive game, just from a standout performance angle. But, like I said, he is always where he needs to be and is constantly shooting the puck. Michkov would not record a point in this game.
Michkov has 7 goals and 7 assists for 14 points in 16 games.
October 30 vs Dynamo Moscow
The same type of game as three days previous. Michkov was promoted to the first line on the right wing, but he would go pointless. He had some nice looks, but honestly, it looked like Michkov didn’t have the chemistry with his linemates on the top line. This game was abysmal by the entirety of Sochi. They look like they’ve lost some steam and Michkov looks like he’s trying to play all six positions at once.
Michkov has 7 goals and 7 assists for 14 points in 17 games.
October 31 vs Dynamo Moscow
Michkov was returned to the second line after his teammate returned to the lineup. Michkov was buzzing around the ice again doing his thing and piling on shots, he would have 7 shots this game. During a 5-on-3 power play for Sochi in the second period, Michkov found a teammate open for a one-timer which led to a big rebound that was put in the back of the net. Michkov would get the secondary assist and snap his two-game pointless streak.
Michkov has 7 goals and 8 assists for 15 points in 18 games.
He scored 4 goals and added 4 assists in 10 games during the month of October.
By Noah Caplan (@Phlyers24)
Photo credit: sanjosehockeynow.com
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