UPDATE (7:01 p.m.) – GM Ron Hextall announced that Steve Mason will skate on Thursday morning with the team as the Flyers prepare to face the Washington Capitals that night. Hextall would not rule Mason out for Thursday's game, a decision that will likely be made following the skate Thursday morning.
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The player most responsible for the Flyers Tuesday night shootout win is facing another injury scare.
Mason took the ice for practice on Wednesday with Ray Emery several minutes prior to the official start of practice – as is the usual for goalies. But after about 15 minutes on the ice, Mason left as the rest of the team joined practice.
Mason did not return due to "soreness" according to Hextall and will undergo an MRI later today.
All signs point to Emery starting Thursday night's game against the Washington Capitals, but Hextall didn't rule out Mason playing on Thursday either, depending on the results of the MRI, what doctors say and how Mason himself feels. Hextall said he would be "surprised if anything comes of this."
Hextall added that players undergo precautionary MRIs on a regular basis and that the injury "may be nothing."
Mason said that he'd felt discomfort during part of Tuesday's game and that the discomfort was still there Wednesday morning. In the update, Hextall also noted that the discomfort Mason was feeling was unrelated to the back spasms that forced him to miss four games in December.
Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek were also not on the ice for practice on Wednesday, but both were on scheduled maintenence days.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
