Less than a week ago, the Philadelphia Flyers had sent goaltender Felix Sandstrom to their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for a conditioning stint. Normally, a team must recall a player on a conditioning loan within the next 14 days, but due to an upper-body injury suffered in last night’s game against the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Flyers have chosen to call up Sandstrom a bit earlier than expected.
This will now be the second goaltender in the last week who is set to miss some time within the Philadelphia organization, as it was reported that Carter Hart would miss a few days due to a mid-body injury. In the meantime, the Flyers are set to roll with a combination of Calvin Petersen and Samuel Ersson as their goaltending tandem.
Unfortunately for the team, at all levels of the organization, aside from Hart, the Flyers have been unable to get adequate goaltending across the board. In only two games played for the Phantoms over the conditioning stint, Sandstrom had a 0-0-1 record, with a .857 SV% and a 3.68 GAA. Primarily serving as a backup for Philadelphia last season, Sandstrom had a 3-12-3 record in 20 games played, posting a .880 SV% and a 3.72 GAA.
Out of training camp, the team opted to carry three goaltenders into the regular season, giving the primary backup position to Ersson. Much like Sandstrom’s subpar season last year, Ersson has gotten off to a similar start, holding a 1-2-1 record in four games, garnering a .815 SV% and a 3.90 GAA.