Flyers' Mason injured again
Goaltender Steve Mason suffers his third injury in 6 weeks during a 3-1 win at Washington.
WASHINGTON - Backup goalie Ray Emery wasn't even paying attention. Steve Mason just appeared at the bench.
During a television timeout, that wouldn't be all that unusual. Except that Mason couldn't move. He could barely wrench his body enough to step off the ice and into the bench.
"I was talking to one of the trainers and someone just yelled down to me," Emery said. "I was pretty surprised."
Mason's latest injury took all of the Flyers by surprise: from coach to general manager to rookie.
"I had no idea," Scott Laughton said. "He just came to the bench and that was it."
Mason, 26, needed help just making it to the Flyers' locker room after suffering the injury 11:18 into the second period of a 3-1 victory. He literally needed to be carried by the team's medical staff. He did not accompany the team to Montreal for tomorrow night's game, and general manager Ron Hextall said it would be a surprise if he were able to rejoin them on its weeklong road trip, which also includes stops in Columbus and Buffalo.
To complicate matters, frequent call-up Rob Zepp was injured in Saturday night's Phantoms game and is not available. The Flyers will call upon rookie Anthony Stolarz today to serve as Emery's backup - the only other organizational goaltender under NHL contract.
"If I was 15 years younger, I might try [to play]," Hextall said.
It is unclear how Mason suffered this latest injury, especially with his abrupt exit. Officially, Hextall labeled this a "lower-body" injury and said he "does not believe" it has any relation to Mason's previous two "lower-body" injuries over the last 6 weeks.
Considering his entire "lower-body" operates in unison to make saves, and everything must be in sync, it is tough to disconnect the dots between Mason's multiple ailments. An athlete's body is like an orchestra. When muscles and tendons are not in harmony, the end result can be painful - especially with a mental block that could cause compensation and abnormal movements.
Mason missed four games from Dec. 20-27 as a result of severe back spams. He returned in Arizona on Dec. 29, but came up lame in two consecutive games (Jan. 6 and 8) before finally being forced to leave the Jan. 10 contest against Boston in the first period with a right knee injury.
When he returned on Jan. 27, without so much as a full practice to prepare, Mason admitted more "drastic measures" were discussed, hinting at possible knee surgery. He was not available for comment after yesterday's game.
Frankly, it is tough to determine which outcome is more worrisome for the Flyers: whether Mason's string of injuries are related or unrelated.
Is Hextall concerned with Masons' health? This would mean a string of three independent injuries in a span of 6 weeks.
"I don't know," Hextall responded. "Sometimes those things come in waves. You get injured multiple times. Other times, you go years without. Obviously, we're not thrilled about it. What are you going to do?"
The clear answer now is that Mason needs time to heal.
The complicating factor is how well he played between injuries. Mason's play over the past month is his best since winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2009. He'd been nearly flawless in his last eight outings, compiling a .959 save percentage and 5-0-1 record with two no-decisions.
His unreliability forced Emery to join the game cold midway through. Emery warmed up pretty quickly by the fire he jumped into: a penalty kill that turned into a five-on-three disadvantage 40 seconds later.
"I don't think I've ever done that before," Emery said. "It's part of the job. You've got to stay ready."
Stolarz, 21, is a second-round pick in his first professional season. The Jackson, N.J., native compiled a 3.04 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in 21 games (7-10-1) as Zepp's backup. He earned a win yesterday in Hershey, but Hextall was unsure if Stolarz would make it to Montreal in time for today's midmorning practice at Bell Centre, considering the travel circumstances and weather.
"Is he ready for this level? Probably not," Hextall said. "Emotion is an uplifting thing, though."
The Flyers' goaltender in Reading (ECHL) was Connor Knapp, the 6-6, 24-year-old who played two games for the Buffalo Sabres last season. Since Knapp is on an AHL deal, the Flyers would first have to sign him to an NHL contract to use him. Stolarz's use with the Flyers will depend on how long they need him - and multiple teams, including the Rangers, are without their top goaltenders right now.
Coach Craig Berube said the Flyers "will be fine" with Emery for now because "he's always been a winner." After being beaten on Alex Ovechkin's power-play blast in his first 2 minutes of action, Emery settled in and stopped five of the six shots he faced.
"That's about as good as you can play defensively," Emery said. "We took everything away from them. It was a tough game mentally for our team. It's a tough building to play in, an afternoon game, 'Mase' gets hurt. There were a lot of opportunities for mental collapses, but it was our most solid game of the year, I thought."
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