Steve Mason left Saturday afternoon's game against the Boston Bruins with a lower-body injury. His evaluation Sunday certainly didn't reveal the worst case scenario, but the Flyers regular netminder will definitely miss time.
The Flyers announced on Sunday that Mason will be out up to two weeks, meaning he will almost definitely miss all six games the Flyers have before the All-Star break.
It is believed that Mason injured his right knee, but the Flyers would not specify the injury. The injury is unrelated to the back spasms that held Mason out for four games in December.
To take Mason's place on the roster, the Flyers recalled Rob Zepp from the AHL. Zepp made one start during Mason's recovery in December.
The Flyers face the Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Vancouver Canucks, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins starting on Monday night and running through Jan. 20. Mason is expected to miss those games and have an additional week to recover as the Flyers are off through Jan. 27 when they face the Arizona Coyotes at home.
Ray Emery will likely get a bulk of the starts, but the Flyers schedule does include two back-to-backs in the six games. Emery suffered the loss on Saturday in relief for Mason, bringing his record to 7-7-1 with a 3.21 GAA and .889 save percentage. Zepp won his only start for the Flyers, allowing three goals in a 4-3 overtime win against Winnipeg.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
