Mason missing at practice on Wednesday

UPDATE [12:00 p.m.]: The Flyers announced that Ray Emery will start Game 1 against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

From earlier: Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said the team would know more about goaltender Steve Mason's status on Wednesday.

If practice is any indication, it looks like Mason may not be ready for Game 1.

Mason, 25, was unavailable to comment on his injury on Tuesday, as Holmgren said he was gone from the Flyers' practice facility to receive treatment.

Mason practiced only about 18 minutes on Tuesday. Coach Craig Berube said he expected to increase Mason's time on ice on Wednesday - but that didn't happen.

Ray Emery, who is 7-2-0 (.936, 1.87) lifetime against the Rangers, would appear to get the start at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. Emery started the Flyers' last game there - on March 26 - his only blemish in New York.

Though Emery's statistics this season (9-12-2, .903, 2.96) are not pretty, he has played against the stiffest competition in the NHL (Boston, St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Jose, Chicago) since the Olympic break.

Rookie Cal Heeter, who allowed 4 goals in his first 20:17 of action on Sunday against Carolina, will likely be Mason's backup.

Other notes: Vinny Lecavalier returned to practice ... Steve Downie (upper-body) was still absent ... Tye McGinn was also missing and may have been returned to Adirondack ... Two new Flyers appeared on the ice as call-ups - Ben Holmstrom and Chris VandeVelde - but did not remain for the full practice with the team. Both players had been injured with the Phantoms recently.

Flyers' projected lineup:

Hartnell - Giroux - Voracek
Raffl - Schenn - Simmonds
Read - Couturier - Akeson
Rinaldo - Lecavalier - Hall

Timonen - Coburn
Grossmann - Streit
Schenn - MacDonald

Emery
Heeter

Scratches: Jay Rosehill, Hal Gill, Tye McGinn, Eric Gustafsson (all healthy), Steve Downie (upper-body), Steve Mason (upper-body).

More information is expected to be available on Mason after practice.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers