Notebook: Flyers Have Done an Injustice to This Player

Philadelphia Flyers backup goalie Felix Sandstrom has been mediocre, at best, in his 10 starts this season.

But his stats — 1-8-1 with a 3.52 GAA and .880 save percentage — are much worse than he has played.

Fact is, coach John Tortorella has not done Sandstrom any favors by playing him primarily in the second end of back-to-back games, with a tired club in front of him.

The Flyers are 2-8 in the back end of consecutive games.

Playing with a fresh team in front of him, Sandstrom, 26, has been much better in a small sample size. Sandstrom is 1-1-1 with a 2.32 GAA and a .918 save percentage when he hasn’t played in the second game of a back-to-back.

In those three games, he beat St. Louis, 5-1, and stopped 27 of 28 shots; lost at Washington in overtime, 3-2, and turned aside 29 of 32 shots; and lost in Colorado, 3-2, and denied 22 of 25 shots.

The Flyers have scored just 23 goals in his 10 starts.

Sandstrom’s latest outing was Sunday’s 4-3 loss to Seattle, the second end of a back-to-back, and a game in which the Flyers looked drained. Yes, he could have played better.

The same could be said for his out-of-sync teammates who left him hung out to dry too often.

Giroux sizzling

Former Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux holds the NHL’s longest active goal-scoring streak. He has goals in Ottawa’s last five games, scoring six times and adding three assists in that span.

For the season, Giroux, 35, has 21 goals in 51 games. That matches the combined total he scored last season in 75 games with the Flyers and Florida.

Should he score Monday against visiting Calgary, he would equal the second-longest streak in Ottawa’s history. The franchise record is eight straight by Connor Brown.

Breakaways

Flyers right winger Owen Tippett, acquired as part of last year’s trade that sent Giroux to Florida, has 15 goals and 15 assists. Tippett has reached the 30-point mark for the first time in his career. … Rasmus Ristolainen is tied for fourth among NHL defenseman with nine points in 11 games since Jan. 17. … The Flyers have a minus-22 goal differential; they are seven points out of a playoff spot with 27 games left.  … The Flyers (22-23-10) don’t play again until Thursday in Seattle.