Sandstrom, Flyers hand Blues eighth straight loss

PHILADELPHIA -- The St. Louis Blues lost their eighth straight game when Felix Sandstrom made 27 saves for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 5-1 victory at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.

"We have to change, we have to adapt, we have to learn," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "Coaches have done a great job, it's just the execution of it. I don't have an answer. Just not good enough. It's on me, and it's on others."
It was Sandstrom's first NHL win in his ninth game. The 25-year-old learned he was starting in the afternoon after Flyers goalie Carter Hart became unavailable to play because of an illness.
"I know how quick things can change," he said. "I tried to prepare the same way either if I'm playing or not. So, it wasn't that big of a difference for me. I was fine."
O'Reilly scored, and Thomas Greiss made 30 saves for St. Louis (3-8-0), which set a team record for consecutive regulation losses. The Blues lost 3-1 at the Boston Bruins on Monday.
"We're not playing well enough to win games," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. "That's what happens. We've got to play better than that for 60 minutes. We're not performing at a good enough level."

Noah Cates, Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett each had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia (7-3-2), which returned home after a three-game road trip (1-1-1).
It was Sandstrom's fourth NHL start of the season, but the first one that didn't come in the second of a back to back.
"He's been playing the back to backs there and we haven't done too much to help him out," Flyers forward Wade Allison said. "So, it's good for us tonight to take care in front of him. He was elite again tonight, so all the credit in the world to him. He was a big reason we won tonight."

Allison gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead at 10:11 of the second period when he drove to the net and deflected Ivan Provorov's centering pass.
Konecny made it 2-0 at 16:37 when he took a pass from Tippett, skated left to right through the Blues zone and beat Greiss to the far side.
Cates made it 3-0 with three seconds remaining in the period when he tapped in Travis Sanheim's centering pass.
O'Reilly ended Sandstrom's shutout at 5:22 of the third period when he scored from the slot to make it 3-1.
Despite the goal, O'Reilly was unhappy with his play.
"I'm supposed to lead this team and I'm not doing nearly enough," he said. "Other guys too. It was a lot more that needs to be done. I don't have an answer for you right now, I just know what I'm doing isn't working."

Sedlak gave the Flyers a 4-1 lead at 6:44 after he knocked down Nick Seeler's point shot in front of Greiss. It was Sedlak's first NHL goal since Feb. 18, 2019.
Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said Sedlak's goal was a key moment in the game.
"We ended up sitting on our heels a little bit, and all teams do it when you have that lead," he said. "I just liked the way we responded after they scored their first one. Obviously, the fourth is a big goal, but then I thought we checked. We were smart. We just played a simple game blue line to blue line. I just liked the way we were as a team just trying to stay within our concept."
Tippett scored with 39 seconds left when his shot went off Greiss and into the net for the 5-1 final.
NOTES:The Blues hadn't gone eight games without a win since 2006, when they lost 11 in a row (0-8-3 from Nov. 25-Dec. 17). ... Samuel Ersson was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League to serve as Sandstrom's backup. Tortorella was unsure if Hart would be available when the Flyers visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. ... Blues forward Logan Brown left the game in the second period because of an upper-body injury. Berube did not have an update. ... Flyers forward Joel Farabee had an assist on Allison's goal for his 100th NHL point. ... St. Louis defenseman Robert Bortuzzo played his 500th NHL game.