When the Philadelphia Flyers meet the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday (beginning at 7:30 PM ET), Matvei Michkov and Rickard Rakell will be two of the most exciting players to watch.

Matvei Michkov finds the back of the net to extend Philadelphia's lead. Facebook; Twitter; Email

Rest does Matvei Michkov good. On Saturday, the Flyers phenom was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for February. It is his second honor this season after also having won it in October. Michkov led all rookies with 10 points (five goals,

Utah Hockey Club right wing Josh Doan (2-4—6 in 9 GP), Chicago Blackhawks center Frank Nazar (1-5—6 in 8 GP) and San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini (2-3—5 in 6 GP) for the honor. Michkov – who previously was named “Rookie of the Month” for October – also led or co-led February rookies in assists (5),

Philadelphia Flyers forward Matvei Michkov, who led all rookies in goals (5) and points (10) through seven games, has been named the National Hockey League’s Rookie of the month for February. Michkov,

The Flyers continue to roll in their return from the 4 Nations break, but one last wave of trade deadline rumors does hang over the heads of Scott Laughton and the rest of the team.

As a young player jumping into the NHL, Michkov has felt the grind of the best league in the world. He maybe needed the 4 Nations Face-Off break more than any other Flyer. Prior t

On a per-60 basis, Konecny and Michkov are on an island when it comes to point-scoring. Among Flyer forwards with 200 minutes played, they are 2.07 and 1.65 standard deviations above the team’s points-per-60 mean.

If there were doubts the Flyers still believe they’re alive in a playoff chase, they pretty much erased those on Saturday afternoon in South Philly. Still a handful of points from a

Extends hot streak

Yeah, sure, some guys sashay into the NHL as teenagers and immediately start skating around like they own the place. Gretzky, Ovechkin, Crosby, Lemieux, Hawerchuk, Orr, Murphy, Barrasso. Freaks, every last one of them.