Sandstrom, 3-Goal 2nd Pace Flyers in Win Over Blues

The Flyers carried a 6-3-2 record into Tuesday’s game, though many preseason expectations probably would have expected a record resembling that of the opposition. With the St. Louis Blues on a current seven-game losing streak and a 3-7-0 record, they certainly entered the game vulnerable after taking their latest loss one night earlier.

With an opportunity to build on a win from Saturday, the Flyers scored three goals in the second period and never looked back, as Felix Sandstrom secured his first NHL win in goal in a 5-1 victory over the Blues on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers got off to a fast start, getting the first seven shots on goal. The opening five minutes also featured a pair of fights, with Nick Seeler and Brayden Schenn dropping the gloves first, then Zack MacEwen and Robert Bortuzzo getting into a scrap.

The Blues made a couple of pushes in the first period and hit the post twice in the process, searching for the game’s first goal. While the Flyers led in shots, 18-9, and had solid possession throughout, they still surrendered large chunks of sustained offensive zone time.

The Blues got a power play early in the second period and used that to get out to an early lead in shots. At the halfway point of the second, the Flyers had just one shot on goal. But after the ensuing face-off, they were able to get on the board with a nice passing play.

Ivan Provorov was able to get the puck into the crease with a centering feed and Wade Allison had positioning to tip it home to make it 1-0 at 10:11 with his third goal of the season. Joel Farabee got the secondary assist for his 100th career point.

With 3:23 remaining in the period, the Flyers’ top line struck. Owen Tippett got the puck to Travis Konecny entering the zone. Konecny skated to the right side of the zone and unleashed a shot across his body to the blocker side of Thomas Greiss, beating the St. Louis netminder for his fifth goal of the season.

With under two minutes to play, both teams took penalties to bring play to 4-on-4. In the closing seconds of the period, Scott Laughton stole the puck at the St. Louis blue line and quickly moved it to Travis Sanheim. Sanheim had time and waited for Noah Cates to get into position at the side of the net, setting up an easy tip-in goal with three seconds remaining in the period to make it 3-0.

Through two periods, shots were 27-16 Flyers.

In the third, the Blues got an early push and were able to get on the board at 5:22. Ryan O’Reilly took a drop pass in the slot from Ivan Barbashev and fired it past Sandstrom to make it 3-1.

But the Flyers had a quick response. Just 1:22 after the Blues got on the board, the Flyers restored the three-goal lead with Lukas Sedlak scoring his first goal as a Flyer on a backhand from the side of the net.

In the final minute of the period, Tippett capped the scoring with a long-distance shot that bounced off Greiss and into the net to make it 5-1.

Sandstrom made 27 saves in the win, the first of his career. Greiss made 30 saves on 35 shots.

Konecny, Cates, and Tippett each had two points.

The Flyers return to the ice on Thursday night to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 p.m.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• No Scoring

2nd Period

• PHI Wade Allison (3) (Ivan Provorov, Joel Farabee) 10:11
• PHI Travis Konecny (5) (Owen Tippett, Kevin Hayes) 16:37
• PHI Noah Cates (2) (Travis Sanheim, Scott Laughton) 19:57

3rd Period

• STL Ryan O’Reilly (2) (Ivan Barbashev, Nick Leddy) 5:22
• PHI Lukas Sedlak (1) (Nick Seeler, Cates) 6:44
• PHI Tippett (3) (Konecny) 19:21