After going down with what might be a back injury during practice Friday morning, the Flyers announced that Steve Mason will miss this weekend’s games in Toronto and Winnipeg and that they will have more information on his status Monday.
Until then, it certainly looks like Ray Emery will be the starting goaltender against the Maple Leafs on Saturday night at Air Canada Centre, while veteran Rob Zepp has been recalled from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms as a second goaltender. Zepp signed with the organization over the summer after seven years with Eisbaren Berlin in Germany. The 33-year-old has never played in the National Hockey League.
So two questions remain now, one short-term and one longer-term: a) will Zepp get into a game this weekend, especially since it’s a back-to-back situation? and b) how serious is Mason’s injury?
The Flyers probably ruled Mason out for the weekend almost immediately given the timing with games on consecutive days and a flight that was hours from leaving Philadelphia when the injury occurred. So it’s hard to read into that too much.
The league’s holiday roster freeze complicates things a little bit here, too: Now that Zepp is with the Flyers before the freeze goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. Friday, he’s staying until December 28. If Mason returns quickly after the weekend, it’s possible the Flyers could carry three goalies for a few games until they’re allowed to return Zepp to the Phantoms.
But that’s down the road. For now, the Flyers will go a few games without Mason, and they’ll hope the injury isn’t all that serious. We’ll know more next week.
