Flyers Coach John Tortorella And Star Rookie Matvei Michkov Get Into Shouting Match On The Bench

It was an interesting night for the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.

First, they got shut out against the Islanders marking the second straight game without finding the back of the net.

Then, after the game, GM Daniel Briere cut a deal with the Flames that sent forwards Joel Farabee and Morgan Front to Calgary in exchange for forwards Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier plus a couple of draft picks.

But this got overshadowed by what happened on the bench during the game.

On one goal, star rookie Matvei Michkov made a mistake that led to the tally, and after that, head coach John Tortorella had him take a seat.

This isn't the first time Tortorella has benched Michkov — who has been a bit streaky this year — but this was the first time it started to get really heated.

Reporter Brandon J. Sommermann spotted the dust-up during the game.

Sure enough, after the game, a video of the argument between the two started making the rounds.

Well… that's not what Flyers fans want to see.

Michkov is undeniably the future of the franchise, and it's hard for him to get out of a slump when he's limited to a career-low 8:30 of ice time.

However, after the game, Tortorella said he had his reasons for the benching.

"I've said all along here with him, we are so far ahead of the process with him being here this year, and that continues even tonight. We're trying to teach him how things are done, how things are done here, the things of understanding conduct of a pro, all the things you do to play," Tortorella said, per NHL.com's Adam Kimelman.

"I'm not going to get involved in the situation, something on the bench tonight.
I'm not going to give you specifics. You may not believe it, but it's for the right reason, because we care about him. I care about him, and where he is in the process, how far along he is in the process. And I'm not going to fail him by cowering away from situations that people may second guess or whatever it may be. We're going to do it the right way with this kid, because we think he's that special. So it's my job to do that. No matter what happens."

The Flyers are back in action on Sunday in Colorado and will follow that up with a Tuesday night game in Utah.