Not a huge surprise, but Steve Mason is officially starting for the Flyers in Game 4 of their opening round series against the Rangers on Friday.
Philly head coach Craig Berube confirmed the move this morning, marking a return to the starter’s goal for Mason after Ray Emery got the nod for the opening three games of the series. Mason had been sidelined since suffering an upper-body injury in the final weekend of the regular season, but did come on in relief of Emery for the final seven minutes of Tuesday’s 4-1 loss.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Flyers respond to Mason’s return. He was solid this year, going 33-18-7 with a .917 save percentage and 2.50 GAA. More importantly, though, might be his splits against the Rangers this year -- the 25-year-old went 2-1-0 with a .937 save percentage and 2.01 GAA, with both of those wins coming at Wells Fargo.