Michkov's 2 goals not enough as Flyers give up lead, lose 5th straight

The Flyers relinquished a third-period lead Thursday night en route to a 4-3 loss to the Capitals at the Wells Fargo Center.

Matvei Michkov scored a pair of goals and Tyson Foerster had the other. Michkov's second marker came off a great feed from Rodrigo Abols and it gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead at second intermission.

"He played really well," John Tortorella said of Michkov.

But the Flyers (23-26-7) failed to finish off Washington. They've lost five straight (0-4-1), a stretch in which they've been outscored 17-5. It's their longest skid since the six-gamer they had in October.

Tortorella's club has dropped seven of its last eight games (1-6-1) and been outscored 28-11 over that span.

The Capitals (36-11-7) have an NHL-best .731 points percentage. The Flyers are 0-3-0 against Washington with one more matchup to go in March at Capital One Arena.

"They're a good team, they're first in the league I'm pretty sure," Foerster said. "I thought we played a hell of a game. Just a couple of breaks here and there."

• For a third straight game, the Flyers were without trade acquisitions Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier. After dealing with some visa issues, the two wingers eventually flew to Toronto to grab a connecting flight to Philadelphia. However, that flight was canceled, leaving them unavailable against the Capitals.

But Kuzmenko and Pelletier did arrive Thursday night. They were seen greeting Danny Briere and company in the club's management suite during the game.

"[Assistant general manager] Barry Hanrahan has worked his ass off to try to get these guys here and it just seems like things have gotten in the way," Tortorella said at morning skate. "But hopefully by Saturday we'll see them play."

Owen Tippett, Ryan Poehling, Rasmus Ristolainen and Egor Zamula remained out with upper-body injuries. All four are considered day to day.

More: Finally in Philly, Pelletier, Kuzmenko join Flyers team looking for answers

• Ivan Fedotov made 14 saves on 18 shots.

Lars Eller drew the Capitals even 6:23 minutes into the third period on a shot that Fedotov probably knows he can stop. Erik Johnson may have gotten a piece of it, but the defenseman was not near the net or screening Fedotov.

Under six minutes later, Jakob Chychrun put Washington in front with the game-winner. John Carlson's pass to Chychrun squeezed through Abols and Sean Couturier.

"My stick's there, but obviously it's the NHL, guys are going to make passes over the sticks and it's in the back of the net," Abols said. "I felt I had a good game until then. It's a very sour taste in the mouth right now."

Connor McMichael's go-ahead 2-1 goal in the second period came six seconds after a Capitals power play expired.

Washington netminder Charlie Lindgren stopped 19 of the Flyers' 22 shots.

Foerster's power play goal tied things up at 2-2 before Michkov gave the Flyers the lead for a second time.

• In January, Tortorella talked about Michkov being "driven by results."

"He wants goals, he wants assists," the head coach said, "because he feels that's the way you show."'

The prized rookie had to feel good after this one. He had just three goals over his previous 26 games and frustration was starting to show.

Michkov's 16 goals rank second among NHL rookies, behind only 2024 first overall pick Macklin Celebrini. The Sharks' center entered Thursday with 17.

"When you score, it pumps you up," Michkov said through translator Slava Kuznetsov, a Flyers consultant. "The energy's coming from scoring."

• Alex Ovechkin climbed one goal closer to Wayne Gretzky's all-time record of 894. The 39-year-old buried career marker No. 879 to tie the game at 1-1 heading into first intermission.

• The Flyers host the Penguins on Saturday in their final game before the 4 Nations Face-Off break (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

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