Caleb Weiler
Wednesday night in Madison Square Garden, Steve Mason propelled the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-0 win over Metropolitan Division rivals, the New York Rangers. Mason’s play has been less than stellar since the Flyers’ 10-winning streak, but last night he showed exactly why he can backstop this team into the playoffs.
Mason stopped all 34 shots he faced for his first shutout of the year Wednesday night. The Flyers have continually struggled in net ever since the Ron Hextall era and when the Flyers traded for Mason during the 2012-13 season, they had hoped that he would be the solution to their goaltending woes. Mason has vaulted himself into third place all-time in goaltender wins for the Flyers with 94 after his shutout against the Rangers.
While Mason has not been able to get the Flyers over the hump and back to the Stanley Cup Final [or even a playoff series win], he’s proven that he deserves to be the main guy in net. Over the last three years, Mason has had an even-strength save percentage of .923, .940, and .934 which is a phenomenal individual statistic. While Mason struggles when the Flyers are shorthanded, posting save percentages of .894, .845, and .822, he has shown that he has been able to keep the Flyers in games when they don’t take penalties in front of him.
While the Flyers have not been able to play well in front of Mason this year, as evident by their recent overall play, he’s proven that he is the goalie to be trusted in net.
Through the first two periods of last night’s game, Mason gave his team a shot even as they continued to play poorly. His play in the third period was able to vault his team to one power play goal by Wayne Simmonds and another lucky bounce goal by Jakub Voracek.
When Mason is on, it seems like his team finds a way to win for him, this was the first time in the last six meetings that the Flyers were able to best the Rangers. Mason was able to carry his team to a win last night, but this is not something new. Flyers fans may have a short memory when it comes to goalies because this can be a, “What have you done for me lately?” town, but there is no doubt that Mason is the goalie that the Flyers need to ride if they want to make a push for the playoffs this year.
STONE COLD. What a save from Steve Mason. #FlyersTalk pic.twitter.com/c1QDZQfTct
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) January 11, 2017