TAMPA, Fla. – In his two-plus years as the Flyers’ head coach, John Tortorella has preached that no one is above the law and backed those words with his actions.

Thursday morning was the most recent example.

Before the team’s morning skate, Tortorella announced that rookie sensation Matvei Michkov would have a healthy lead this evening against the Tampa Bay Lightning (7:30, ESPN+/Hulu). Michkov, the NHL’s rookie of the month for October, was second on the team in points with 10 (four goals, six assists) and had played in each of the Flyers’ first 13 games.

“It’s part of the process,” Tortorella said. “With young guys they get to watch games too, as far as development goes, so you try to help them.”

” READ MORE: John Tortorella showed his frustration with his brief comments after the game. But was everything bad compared to the Hurricanes?

Michkov’s play has been slipping lately, both in production terms and in the eye test. In his last five games, the Russian winger had just one assist, a power play helper in a 6-4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in his last five games.

But this move isn’t about his point production.

Tortorella wasn’t happy with Michkov’s play away from the puck at both ends of the ice in five-on-five play. As a result, the 19-year-old winger has been on the bench for the last two games, including most of the third period against the Hurricanes. He has elite vision to find his teammates and create scoring opportunities, but struggles with puck support and proper positioning in each zone.

“I think he’s starting to understand what the National Hockey League is, as far as the speed, the time and the space, everything that comes with it,” Tortorella said after a win against the St. Louis Blues last week. “We expect there will be some big issues with him at five-on-five that I will have to coach on.”

“In that teachable moment – ​​I’m not going to tell you what it’s about – but when we see the same mistake over and over again and he’s just not focusing on a particular part of the game at all, then that’s the case – and I have that I’ve been very honest with him about this – he’s going to miss some ice cream. He will watch the game. It’s not me, you know, yelling at him. It’s telling him this is how it works.”

Tortorella said at the time that he was “very comfortable” with Michkov on the power play, then added that “he will be held accountable.” The head coach sees watching a game from up in the press box as a chance to rethink and gain a different perspective.

Michkov isn’t the first Flyer to get a scratch – and he won’t be the last either. Tortorella has used players like Morgan Frost, Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Tyson Foerster and captain Sean Couturier.

“I spoke to him and had a good conversation with him,” Couturier said. “He’s young. He is learning. (He) has a lot of pressure with all the adjustment, coming from Russia at 19 and not really speaking English. There are a lot of new things, not only in his adaptation on the ice, but also off the ice.

“I think he knows what he wants to work on and what he needs to work on,” added Couturier, who has been Michkov’s center for the last eight games. “I think it’s more about controlling the pressure, controlling the ups and downs of a long season. It’s still early in the year, but you can’t be frustrated.

“You just have to never be too high, never be too low and kind of take that approach, that’s maybe what I tried to teach him.”

” READ MORE: Where does Matvei Michkov stand historically among the Flyers so far?

Winger Anthony Richard will replace Michkov after being called up from Lehigh Valley on Wednesday. Richard received the call while he was on the golf course.

“We had the day off and I was on the green and had my Apple Watch on and I kept feeling it buzzing, so it was either one of my family members or someone calling me,” he said. “After I finished the hole, I picked up my phone and it was the call to come here. I was excited, but I was lucky. I flew yesterday morning so I could finish the lap.”

Richard, who turns 28 next month, had a strong training camp. He showed great speed and scored two goals and two assists in the preseason. Before the season, Tortorella cited speed as the key to the Flyers’ success. Now Richard will have the chance to achieve this in the top six.

“I’m a guy that likes to play offense and I like to play in the O-zone and when you’re around good players it’s always nice,” Richard said. “Usually you get called up and play more of a fourth-line role. It kind of takes you out of the aspect that gets you into the NHL. In my first few years in the NHL, I tried to play a more physical game.

“Now that I’m on the second line, it’s more about making some plays. Of course there’s still playing hard in all areas, but the focus is more on the offensive side, so I’m really happy about that.”

As he told Richard in training camp, Tortorella said Thursday that he wanted him to “take risks offensively” and not be “afraid to make mistakes.” Richard said he played better than he did earlier in the year and has more confidence with the puck. He has four goals and nine points in seven games with the Phantoms this season and has played 24 NHL games in his nine-year professional career.

Richard scored two of his goals on the power play and will be on the first power play unit in Michkov’s spot, which is usually in the right faceoff circle.

” READ MORE: The Flyers are placing center Ryan Poehling on injured reserve, recalls Anthony Richard

“This is a good place for me. I’ve been playing there for many years,” said Richard, who scored one of his goals last season from the right circle.

“I guess they were trying to find someone to replace Michy, so hopefully we can produce there. I know the power play has been better in the last few games, so hopefully we can score tonight.”

Hello, old friend (part 2)

After playing against Sean Walker on Tuesday, the Flyers will face another former teammate in Cam Atkinson on Thursday. The forward’s contract was bought out in June before he signed a deal with the Lightning.

“I appreciate every second. “Still keep in touch with every single one of these guys and had them all for dinner last night, which is great to see that for the most part everyone shows up,” Atkinson said, joking that he might find out who liked him and who didn’t during the game.

“It’s a special group over there, and from the top down, how the owners run things and the management, and of course my history with Torts and (associate coach Brad Shaw). I always wish them the best, except when we play them. But yeah, I miss it, miss that area, miss living there, miss everything.”

Acquired in a one-for-one trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jakub Voráček in July 2021, Atkinson scored 78 points (36 goals, 42 assists) in 143 regular season games with the Flyers.

He missed the entire 2022-23 season after undergoing surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck. He struggled to find his game last season, scoring 13 goals and 28 points in 70 games. He was a decent scratch in 12 games, logging just under 16 minutes per game – his lowest average since his third season in the league.

“Torts and I have always had a great relationship,” said Atkinson, who had one assist in 10 games for the Lightning. “Even during this process, he was very open and honest, as he always is. Not that I agree with everything he did, but it is what it is

“At the end of the day he has to train and at the end I had to play better. We’re still talking. People think he slept at my house last night,” he said with a laugh. “But we texted yesterday. I’ll see him sometime today. And there is never bad blood. And even if it were, I would never say anything negative about him because he definitely helped me a lot more than not. I respect him more than anyone.”

” READ MORE: Aleksei Kolosov wanted an NHL shot. With Sam Ersson out injured, it’s in his hands.

Outliers

Ivan Fedotov is expected to start in goal on Thursday as a replacement for Aleksei Kolosov, who left the morning skate early after speaking with the coaching staff. Kolosov suffered what the team later called a lower-body injury. … Defenseman Cam York skated with the team in the morning skate for the first time since being placed on injured reserve because of an upper-body injury. He wore a blue no-contact jersey. … Goalkeeper Sam Ersson was also on the ice for the morning skate after his injury on Saturday. Ersson also skated in Carolina, but didn’t continue until the end of the morning skate.