Ivan Provorov emerging as top defenseman for Flyers

Philadelphia Flyers coach Dave Hakstol got his first glimpse of what kind of player rookie defenseman Ivan Provorov would be the day after one of the worst games the 19-year-old ever played.
It was the third game of the season, a 7-4 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Oct. 18, and Provorov was a minus-5. The lowlight came with 2:32 left in the first period when he tripped while skating backward with the puck alone in the defensive zone, allowing Blackhawks forward Dennis Rasmussen to score.

"It was a tough game," Provorov said. "I thought it was a couple bad bounces, bad luck. … A couple things I could have done better. After the game I knew I needed to evaluate my game, learn from it and move on. It's a long season. Those games are going to happen once in a while."
Hakstol said he was impressed by Provorov's maturity and willingness to self-evaluate.
"That didn't shake or rattle [Provorov] in any way," Hakstol said. "He came back with a pretty good determination the next day and went right back to work. That tells you a lot about the character and confidence of the young man."
Provorov hasn't made many mistakes since then, and has emerged as the Flyers' top all-around defenseman. He has 14 points in 33 games and leads the team with an average ice time of 20:56 per game, most of which has come against the opposition's top forwards.

That likely will include the Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom when the Flyers play the Capitals at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports, NHL.TV).
"Feels great to see the coach has trust in you," Provorov said. "For me, I go out there and try to do everything I can to help the team win. Doesn't matter if it's scoring two goals or playing good defensively. Doesn't matter for me."
Provorov has earned that trust through smart, dependable play. Since that game in Chicago he's plus-3 in 31 games, tied for the best mark on the Flyers.
"He's just a smart player," captain Claude Giroux said. "He likes to learn, he likes to get better every day. He's a pretty disciplined kid. He's the oldest 19-year-old out there. But he works on his game every day. He's only going to get better."
Provorov showed just how much better he's gotten when the Flyers and Blackhawks played at Wells Fargo Center on Dec. 3. He was matched against Patrick Kane, last season's Hart and Art Ross Trophy winner, on 13 of Kane's 19 shifts and held him to one assist and two shots on goal at even strength. At the other end Provorov had his first two-goal NHL game in the Flyers' 3-1 victory. The goals came 31 seconds apart, setting a team record for fastest two goals by a rookie defenseman.
Provorov said there was some motivation to show he was better than his first game against the Blackhawks, but he also said he never dwelled on what happened in Chicago.
"You think about it," he said. "You learn from it. You learn what you did really good or you did something that you think you could have done better. You learn from it and file it up in your head and move on."
Kane isn't the only top scorer Provorov has blanketed. During the Flyers' recent 10-game win streak, in addition to Kane, Provorov played head-to-head against the Calgary Flames' Sean Monahan, the Boston Bruins' David Krejci, the Nashville Predators' Ryan Johansen, the Florida Panthers' Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr, the Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid, Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars, Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche.
At even strength, those 11 players combined for two goals (one each by Krejci and Barkov) and 26 shots on goal. Kane, Johansen (one), Jagr (one), McDavid (one), Benn (zero), and Larkin (one) were held to one shot or less.
In those games, Provorov had two goals and 12 shots on goal at even strength.

"When given the opportunity he's done a very good job of shutting those guys down and taking their time and space away," said Andrew MacDonald, Provorov's defense partner. "He's able to close very well because of his skating and recover if need be. Got a really good stick that he uses to his advantage."
While his play during the win streak earned him extra attention, Hakstol said Provorov has been on a steady climb all season.
"We've seen his maturity really from Day 1 of [training] camp," he said. "Just in terms of his will to continue to get better. We're seeing some of the results here the last few weeks. His consistency has probably been one element that's taken a nice step forward. I think any player you're going to have nights where things don't go well and you're not at your best. But overall for Ivan the last 2-3 weeks, that's been the one area of his game that seems to have taken the steps, solid consistency in all areas of the game. That's a real positive."
Provorov said he relishes getting the hardest defensive matchups.
"It's nice to see the trust from the coaches," he said. "I'm getting better [and] I'm going to continue to get better, try to play my best every time I'm on the ice."
It's an approach that's more mature than the average 19-year-old.
"You do tend to forget he's only 19 at times," MacDonald said. "You can see his confidence building. … Obviously he had that tough game against Chicago [but] never really wavered though. He had a really good mindset. You go back and look at the tape, he was minus-5 but how many of those goals were his fault? Not many. It's a good outlook he's got. Obviously a very bright future."