Injuries Equal Opportunity For Felix Sandstrom, Other Flyers Prospects

Numerous injuries to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday opened the door for Felix Sandstrom and others to join the lineup on Wednesday.

“Play the kids.” That’s the mantra when a team falls out of the NHL playoff race.

And that’s where the Philadelphia Flyers find themselves — out of necessity as much as anything else.

Tuesday night’s 9-2 loss in Washington didn’t just hurt the Flyers’ dignity. It also took a serious toll on their roster.

In net, Carter Hart suffered a lower-body injury and was replaced by Martin Jones after the first period. Up front, Cam Atkinson also left the game after the first period due to a lower-body injury. Centers Patrick Brown and Nate Thompson both finished the game, but were ruled out for Wednesday’s matchup against the New York Rangers, as were defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Cam York.

The result: a massive lineup overhaul and a 4-0 win for the Blueshirts at Wells Fargo Center.

Sandstrom Leads Call-Up List

Flyers interim head coach Mike Yeo said that Hart’s injury was different from the nagging issue that caused him to miss a start in late March. He added that he “might be a little bit concerned” about whether the No. 1 netminder will be able to return for any of his team’s eight remaining games.

Backup Martin Jones played the final 40 minutes in Washington on Tuesday. The club summoned Felix Sandstrom from the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Comets to take the net against the Rangers.

In his second career NHL start, the 25-year-old Swede stopped 30 of the 33 shots he faced on Wednesday, including big saves on Adam Fox and Mika Zibanejad during a first period 5-on-3 opportunity for the Rangers.

“I thought he was great,” Yeo said after the game. “Looked really calm and I was confident with him in the net. I thought he played a really strong game tonight.”

“I always try to go out there and do my best, no matter where it is, what day it is,” Sandstrom said about how he’s approaching this opportunity. “It is, for sure, fun to play here and the guys did a great job looking out for me in both my starts this year. It’s been great getting my development here, and now I’m focusing on the next game.”

Drafted 70th overall by the Flyers in 2015, Sandstrom is now in his fourth season in North America. He has a record of 15-18-3 in 41 games with the Phantoms this season, to go along with a .901 save percentage and 2.91 goals-against average.

Sandstrom will almost certainly see more NHL game action over the next two and a half weeks. Up next for the Flyers: four games in six nights, kicking off with a home-and-home against the Buffalo Sabres which starts Saturday at KeyBank Center.

Laczynski, Zamula Join The Big Club

Also recalled from the Phantoms for Wednesday’s game: forward Tanner Laczynski and defenseman Egor Zamula.

After appearing in five games for the Flyers last season, Laczynski spent the first half of the this year’s campaign recovering from hip surgery. Since joining the Phantoms in mid-February, the grinding and versatile 24-year-old has six goals and 14 points in 22 games. He centered Oskar Lindblom and Zack MacEwen on the Flyers’ fourth line on Wednesday.

For Zamula, it was his second call-up of the year. He played one game when elevated from the taxi squad back in January. On Wednesday, the 22-year-old skated on a pairing with Kevin Connauton. In his fourth career NHL game, Zamula logged a career high 22:01 of ice time, all at even strength.

“I thought he was really good too,” said Yeo. “To be honest with you, I thought our young kids did a really good job tonight. I thought they played well for us and gave us some good shifts in the offensive zone.

“Big Z — I thought his gaps were good, his stick was good. I thought he has poise with the puck. Maybe the third he was hanging onto it maybe a little too long, like to get that puck a little quicker. But he has poise with it and has vision. Certainly, when you have a guy like that he can help you get to your game.”

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Injury Updates

As of April 9, the Flyers ranked fifth in the NHL with 487 man-games lost.

Look at all the red circles in the bottom right corner of this graph, and it’s easy to see the correlation between injuries and team success in the NHL. For the second straight year, injuries have been a huge part of the story of the Flyers’ season.

Before Wednesday’s game, Yeo said he didn’t have timelines for most of his newly injured players. But he expressed hope that out of Atkinson, Thompson, Ristolainen and York, some could potentially return during the club’s final eight games.

Patrick Brown, though, has a season-ending issue. He joins Ryan Ellis, Sean Couturier and Sam Morin on the sidelines. Defenseman Nick Seeler has also missed the last six games with a lower-body injury, and may not return this year.

Meanwhile, they opened the door for a pair of veterans to get back into the lineup on Wednesday. Lindblom suited up after being healthy scratched against Washington, and Keith Yandle returned to action after sitting out five of the last six games.

MacEwen’s return against New York came after he had missed five games with a head injury.