Flyers starting goaltender Steve Mason skated with his teammates for 40 minutes on Tuesday, but left before the commencement of team drills. While Mason claims that he's feeling better and will be re-evaluated on Wednesday, it certainly would appear that he's questionable to play in Philadelphia's Stanley Cup Playoff opener on Thursday evening vs. the New York Rangers.
Mason originally sustained an "upper body injury" when a teammate was pushed into him by Penguins forward Jayson Megna on April 12th.
"That's not been determined yet," Flyers coach Craig Berube said on Tuesday, in response to a question about whether Mason would be available to start Game 1. "I thought he looked decent. He came out there for a little bit in practice and got some work in, and I thought he looked pretty good."
If Mason is ultimately unable to play on Thursday, the Flyers will turn to Ray Emery as the starter with 25-year-old rookie Cal Heeter backing up.
