In their final game before the leaguewide holiday break, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (15-15-4) are in western Pennsylvania to take on Mike Sullivan's Pittsburgh Penguins (15-15-5). Game time at PPG Paints Arena is 7:00 p.m. EST.
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 first meeting of the four-game season series between the Flyers and archrival Penguins. The clubs will play each other three times in February: Feb. 8 at Wells Fargo Center and then a home-and-home set on Feb. 25 (Philadelphia) and Feb. 27 (Pittsburgh).
The Flyers enter Monday's game coming off a dramatic 5-4 overtime victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. In the third period, the Flyers recovered from deficits of 2-0, 3-2, and 4-3 before pulling out a win in sudden death. The victory ended a three-game losing streak for the Flyers.
Here are five things to watch in Monday's pre-holiday clash:
1. Tippett on a tear
Owen Tippett played one of the best games of his NHL career in Saturday's win over the Blue Jackets. He registered four points (one goal, three assists) including a spectacular helper on the first of two assists on Morgan Frost goals and a highlight reel finish on the game winning goal in overtime.
Since Thanksgiving, Tippett has compiled seven goals and 11 points in 11 games played. Over that span, only Travis Konecny (5g, 8a, 13 points) has outpointed Tippett among Flyers players.
2. Foer-sing to the greasy areas
Looking over the Flyers last 13 games (Nov. 24 to date), Flyers second-year winger Tyson Foerster is one of four Philadelphia Flyers to register double-digit points (5g, 5a). The others are Konecny (5g, 10a, 15 points), Tippett (7g, 5a, 12 points) and rookie right winger Matvei Michkov (4g, 7a, 11 points).
Foerster has nine goals and 16 points overall this season. Pucks haven't been going in from the flanks so far for Foerster. However, he's started to find his way back onto the scoresheet with much more regularity of late by getting to the net for deflections, rebounds and point-blank scores off centering feeds down low in the attack zone.
Speaking of goals from the flank, however, Foerster scored two such goals from the top of the circle on his off-wing during a home-and-home sweep against the Penguins last season (Dec. 2 and Dec. 4, 2023). At some point, Foerster will start finding the net again on shots from a distance. If he can pair that with his surge in close-range tallies, the 2020 first-round pick is capable of unlocking the next level to his NHL scoring potential.
Heading to Pittsburgh, Foerster has notched three goals over the Flyers' last two games. His line with Noah Cates (three-game goal streak) and Bobby Brink has been the Flyers' most effective combination in recent weeks.
3. Flyers getting balanced scoring
Using the same 13 game sample from above, the Flyers rank tied for 6th in the NHL offensively over the last month at 3.4 goals per game. Very little of it has come on the power play (3-for-28, 10.7%) but Flyers are 2nd in 5-on-5 goals (33) and have three OT goals including Tippett's goal against Columbus.
Six Flyers players -- the aforementioned four plus Frost (5g, 4a) and Scott Laughton (5g, 5a) -- have posted at least nine points over the past 13 games. Nine Flyers have contributed at least seven points, including Cates (4g, 3a), Sean Couturier (2g, 5a) and Travis Sanheim (1g, 6a).
Bottom line: the Flyers have been scoring enough goals to win most of their games over the last 13 matches. However, the team has a so-so record of 6-5-2 in that span. Why has that been the case?
4. Team D and goaltending
Over the last month, only the Buffalo Sabres (4.08 goals against average) has been allowing more goals than the Flyers (3.77 GAA) or the Calgary Flames (also a 3.77 GAA).
The Flyers goalie play hasn't been the only factor but it has been an undeniable issue of late. Some of it is goaltending lapses on savable shots but there has also been an unwanted uptick in turnovers in dangerous areas and coverage breakdowns.
A collective factor: At US Thanksgiving, the Flyers' PK ranked 3rd in the NHL (60-for-70, 85.7%). Since that time, the Flyers rank 30th (18-for-28, 64.3%).
At 5-on-5, only six clubs have allowed more goals in the most recent sample span than the Flyers (32 in 13 GP): Buffalo (33), Carolina (33), San Jose (33), New York Rangers (35), Chicago (36), and Seattle (42 in 15 GP).
Takeaway: While the Flyers are scoring a lot more goals in recent weeks, they are also giving up too many. Whether it's Samuel Ersson, Aleksei Kolosov or Ivan Fedotov between the pipes, the Flyers need more timely saves and a higher overall percentage turned away. Simultaneously, the skaters defending in front of the goalies need to do a better job, too.
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Rust and Rakell
Beyond the Penguins holdover group of stars from their glory years -- namely the trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang -- the Flyers need to be aware of two Pittsburgh players who've been on offensive tears in recent weeks.
Over Pittsburgh's last dozen games, Bryan Rust has compiled nine goals and 17 points. Recently, he assembled a hat trick against Montreal and a two-game performance against Nashville within his last five outings. For the season overall. Rust has tallied 14 goals and 25 points.
Rickard Rakell has also been hot offensively of late, with four goals and eight points over his last five games. In the last 12 matches, the Swedish forward has posted eight goals and 14 points. For the season overall, he's produced 15 goals, 11 assists and 26 points.
Crosby remains Pittsburgh's overall scoring leader this season. The future Hall of Fame shoo-in has nine goals, 26 assists and 35 points in 35 games.
