(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
At the time the NHL takes its annual break for the holidays on Saturday, it will have been six weeks since Michal Neuvirth suffered a lower-body injury that has sidelined him since.
Prior to the Flyers game following the Nov. 12 injury, three goalies suddenly received an opportunity and they all had to run with it. So far, each one has.
Steve Mason was going to have to carry the Flyers through the bulk of Neuvirth's expected absence. It started off somewhat slow. Mason suffered a tough shootout loss in the first game, which hardly fell on his shoulders, picked up a win against Winnipeg and then lost three of the next four games in regulation.
Mason got the night off on Nov. 27, but started the next seven games after that. He won all of them. When he returned between the pipes on Dec. 14, he won that one too. In those eight games, Mason allowed more than two goals twice, a 6-5 Flyers win over Edmonton and a 4-3 win over Colorado. He allowed two goals against Dallas on Saturday, his first loss in over three weeks. In the time since Neuvirth's injury, Mason has a 11-4-2 record with a 2.19 GAA.
Since Neuvirth's injury, Mason has started 16 of the Flyers 18 games. The two games he didn't start were also Flyers wins.
For rookie Anthony Stolarz, sitting on the bench for over 25 games as an emergency call-up or the backup in a playoff run meant playing was not coming soon. But in November, in his third year as a pro, he was going to get a shot.
That finally came on Nov. 29 when Stolarz made his NHL debut. He wasn't perfect, but he made 29 saves in a 5-3 Flyers win, the first of his career. Little did everyone know that was the start of a 10-game winning streak for the Flyers, a streak that reached nine games on Dec. 11, when in his second NHL start, Stolarz stopped all 28 shots he faced against Detroit in a 1-0 overtime win.
Playing time has been limited for Stolarz, but he's had the chance to get into a game at the NHL level. He's experienced mild success at the NHL level now. And despite Mason having the bulk of playing time, he's found a mentor in Mason.
Meanwhile, when Stolarz left the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, it left an opening for rookie Alex Lyon, fresh into the pros out of Yale, to take the reigns as the Phantoms starting goaltender. Lyon hasn't disappointed either.
At the time Stolarz was called up on Nov. 13, Lyon had made just three starts at the AHL level. In his first two games, he allowed five goals each as the Phantoms dropped both games, one in overtime.
On Nov. 11, Lyon picked up his first professional win, allowing one goal on 27 shots. And the wins just kept coming from there.
Lyon has started 16 games since Stolarz was called up. He has a 12-4-0 record with a 2.44 GAA.
Three goalies, all at different points in their careers, all looking to make a statement, and they have. Suddenly, the Flyers struggling goaltender got some consistency and that has them competing in all games at all levels.
Neuvirth will return soon enough, probably sometime shortly after the holidays are complete. And while that will send Stolarz back to Lehigh Valley and splitting duties with Lyon, the experience that both got now is incredible for their development.
And for Mason, he may have pulled far enough ahead in the race to be in the Flyers net for good. It's a shame an injury helped make that decision easier, but Mason has earned that chance.
