RAV4 Things: Flyers @ Senators

With three games left in their 2024-25 season schedule, interim head coach Brad Shaw's Philadelphia Flyers (33-37-9) are in Canada's capital city on Sunday afternoon to take on Travis Green's Ottawa Senators (43-30-6). Game time at Canadian Tire Centre is 1:00 p.m. EDT.

The game will be televised on NBCSP+. The radio broadcast is on 93.3 WMMR with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.

This is the third and final meeting of the season between the Eastern Conference clubs. The Flyers are 1-1-0 against the Senators this season: 5-4 road win on Nov. 14 and 5-2 home loss on March 11.

The Flyers have posted a 5-1-0 record in the six games since Shaw took over for John Tortorella behind the bench. They have been eliminated from the Eastern Conference playoff race. Philly is playing the latter half of a back-to-back set after defeating the New York Islanders via shootout, 4-3 (1-0), at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Senators, 6-3-1 over their last 10 games, are coming off a 5-3 home win against the Montreal Canadiens on Friday. Ottawa has already clinched a wildcard playoff spot in the East. The Senators are likely to play the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Here are the RAV4 things to watch on Sunday plus an x-factor heading into the matinee match.

1. An unstoppable "Foers" of late

Flyers second season winger Tyson Foerster has made a strong case for NHL First-Star of the Week honors. He's been scorching hot offensively of late, having racked up five goals in his last two games.

Foerster has notched eight goals and nine points over his last six games. In the process, he boosted his season production from 16 to 24 goals and his point total from 32 to 41. He had 20 goals and 33 points as a rookie in 2023-24.

2. The speed line: Pelletier, Poehling, Tippett

Ever since Shaw put them together as a line, the trio with Ryan Poehling centering Jakob Pelletier and Owen Tippett has found chemistry with one another. All three have above-average speed, while Poehling and Tippett also bring size to their line.

In the cases of Pelletier and Poehling, the players have seized upon an opportunity to move up in the lineup and see extended ice time. Previously, both players were mostly deployed in fourth-line roles. All three players on the line are former first-round Draft picks in other organizations.

Poehling brings a five-game point streak (4g, 4a, 8 points) into Sunday afternoon's match. Dating back to March 13, Poehling has posted a team-best 15 points (8g, 7a) over the last 13 games.

Tippett has struggled for goals since the 4 Nations Face-Off break but finally reached the 20-goal milestone for the third straight season with an empty net goal against the New York Rangers on Wednesday night. He's started to pick up some assists of late, and has six points (1g, 5a) in his last five games.

Pelletier, a high-energy player, has rapidly become a popular figure among teammates in the dressing room. He's seen his ice time increase significantly since the tail end of Tortorella's head coaching tenure. Pelletier has responded with six points (3g, 3a) in his last seven games including tallies in each of the last two matches.

3. Between the pipes

On Saturday, Samuel Ersson churned out one of his better full-game performances since the 4 Nations tournament. He stopped 37 of 40 shots in regulation and overtime before going 5-for-5 in the shootout. He will be rested in Ottawa on Sunday.

Rookie netminder Aleksei Kolosov, who was in goal for the Flyers' 8-5 win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. He made 24 saves on 29 shots. Kolosov backed up Ersson against the Islanders on Saturday.

Ivan Fedotov last played on March 31. He stopped 28 of 29 shots in a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators.

4. Michkov watch

Matvei Michkov (24g 36a, 60 points) enters Sunday's game tied with the late Peter Zezel for ninth on the Flyers all-time rookie scoring leader list. Zezel posted 60 points during the 1984-85 campaign.

Over the final three games, Michkov could realistically move up as high as seventh on the list. The 20-year-old Russian needs four points to tie Hockey Hall of Famer Bill Barber's 64 points in 1972-73.

Michkov needs six points in three games to catch Pelle Eklund's 1985-86 rookie season output (15g, 51a, 66 points) for seventh on the list. Speaking of Eklund, team captain Sean Couturier passed Eklund (334 assists) on Saturday for 11th in assists in franchise history.

Michkov needs one assist to pass defenseman Behn Wilson for sole possession of 11th place on the franchise rookie assist list. Currently, they are tied (36). If Michkov can get to 40 assists by the end of the season, he'll tie center Andre Lacroix and defenseman Janne Niinimaa for 9th place.

X-Factor: Giroux

In eight career games against the Flyers since his 1,000-game stint in Philadelphia came to an end, Claude Giroux has posted 10 points (3g, 7a).

For the 2024-25 campaign overall, Giroux has 49 points (15g, 34a). Dating back to his first full NHL season (2009-10), Giroux has posted at least 50 points in ever season with the exception of the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season (48 points in 48 games) and the pandemic-shortened 2020-23 campaign (43 points in 54 games). He had 27 point in 42 games a rookie in 2008-09.