The Flyers announced Sunday that Steve Mason will be out for up to two weeks with a lower-body injury (see story), making this the second time within the span of one month that their starter will miss time due to injury.
Ray Emery will assume the starter's role once again, while Rob Zepp has been recalled directly out of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms' two-game road jaunt in St. John's, Newfoundland, for the second time this season.
Mason went down not even ten minutes into Saturday's game against Boston, when he dropped to make a pad save off of a bouncing Craig Cunningham shot. It had been a pretty tough week for Mason, who had hurt himself before practice on Wednesday. Despite a negative MRI, he still looked uncomfortable throughout his whole Thursday start against Washington.
A key takeaway here, is that Mason's lower-body injury is not believed to be associated with the back injury that sidelined him in December.
While his MRI turned out to be negative, Mason had expressed at the time that he believed his ailment would not have been able to be recognized by an MRI. Science is a liar sometimes, but now, there's proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Mason is hurt, and can be treated as needed.
How does an injury like this happen for the Flyers? Quite frankly, they can't afford it. Considering that they sit 11 points out of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference just past the season's midway point, their playoff hopes are going to take a miracle.
The Orange and Black have been running Mason ragged all year. Barring this incumbent injury, Mason projected to play in 57 games this season — four shy of his career-high. However, it's entirely expected for a starting goaltender to amass 55-or-more games in any given season — the upper-echelon goalies get about 60-to-70 starts a season — which doesn't necessarily call Mason's longevity into question.
Mason continues to be run ragged by the shaky defense in front of him. He continues to bail that defense out on a nightly basis, which is what let the Flyers to rely on him so heavily. Without Mason, you could argue that the Flyers' playoff hopes would be even more slim than they already are. It's why all the "his back hurts because he's carrying the team" jokes had so much merit last month.
It hasn't been the easiest go for the Flyers this season. And with one of their key cogs sidelined yet again, it won't get any easier.
Rob Riches is a contributor to Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Riches61
