Another heroic performance by Steve Mason gets wasted in St. Louis

Steve Mason was fantastic. The Flyers goalie made 35 saves through 65 minutes. Unfortunately for Philadelphia Brian Elliott answered the bell as well. T.J Oshie and Vladimir Tarasenko both scored in the shootout and the St. Louis Blues  defeated the Flyers 1-0 on Thursday night.

It was a good first ten minutes for the Flyers. They forechecked aggressively and it led to two early power play chances. Philly was unable to capitalize on either. 

St. Louis would get a power play of their own at 11:51 as Nicklas Grossmann was called for interference. The Blues were also kept off the board as Steve Mason made two or three big saves to keep it scoreless.

The Flyers would get a third chance on the power play late as Barret Jackman was whistled for slashing at 17:20. Once again the Flyers had some good pressure but Brian Elliott had all the answers. 

The period would end with a flurry in the Flyers end by St. Louis but Mason stood tall yet again to get the teams to the locker room tied 0-0. The Flyers outshot the Blues 10-8 in the opening 20 minutes.

The second period started at a frantic pace. Both teams went back and forth over the first ten minutes. St. Louis applied pressure and began coming in waves but Mason was spectacular yet again keeping it scoreless through the midway point of regulation.

The Flyers would get yet another chance on the power play at 13:56 as Ryan Reaves was called for interference. The power play never got anything going and was held without a shot. 

St. Louis had a chance of their own as Andrew MacDonald was whistled for tripping at 18:28. The Blues came close to breaking the tie as Alexander Steen rang one off the post. Mason was able to make one last save as the horn sounded and the period ended with the score still 0-0.

St. Louis had 32 seconds of power play time to start the third. They were unable to convert and that's when the action started. 

Both teams went back and forth with some big hits and quality shots. St. Louis out shot the Flyers 17-9 in the third but Steve Mason had the answer to each and the game would head to overtime still tied at zero.

The Flyers would out shoot the Blues three to two in the overtime. Both goalies stopped them all and the game went to a shoot out. 

T.J. Oshie got it started with a goal. Jakub Voracek was denied. Vladimir Tarasenko the buried his chance. It was up to Wayne Simmonds to keep the game going but Elliott had the answer and the Blues got the bonus point.

Mason made 35 saves in earning his second shutout loss of the season. The Flyers goaltender was fantastic yet again but could not get any help.

The Flyers are back in action on Saturday at home against the Red Wings.

Bill Minchin is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow Bill on Twitter @wtfd103074