Philadelphia Flyers

For great teams, first-round playoff series are often exercises in tedium. See the Western Conference playoffs for proof.

Anaheim, Colorado and St. Louis amassed a staggering 339 regular-season points among them. They were the three best teams in the Western Conference in the regular season. They are an aggregate 6-0 in the playoffs.

That is what great teams do in first-round series. They put the lower seeds in 0-2 holes and make them see that the only way to survive is to beat a demonstrably better team four times in five tries, with any seventh game happening in the better team's building.

The Philadelphia Flyers are not a great team. Thankfully for the Flyers, neither are the New York Rangers.

We know this because the Rangers jumped the Flyers in Game 2 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series, taking a 2-0 lead to the dressing room after the first period at Madison Square Garden.

Against an Anaheim, a Colorado or a St. Louis, thoughts of a comeback would have been silly.

But these are the Rangers. Other than their recent, fluky winning streak against the Flyers at MSG, nothing about the Rangers suggests greatness. They are another good, but not dominant playoff team. They have strengths and they have weaknesses, just like the Flyers.

For the next two periods, the Flyers' strengths and the Rangers' weaknesses coalesced in time to save the Flyers' season. For now.

The Flyers chiseled three gritty goals out of the second period, and the Garden crowd started making those unsettled sounds that occasionally emanate from the Wells Fargo Center fans when the Flyers struggle.

Then the Flyers buttoned up the center of the ice in the third period, outshooting the Blueshirts 8-7 and generating better scoring chances.

The crowning glory of the Flyers' third period was forechecking the Rangers into their final self-inflicted wound, a late penalty for too many men on the ice when Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist aborted his attempt to come off for an extra attacker after that player had already jumped over the boards.

Even the goal that put the game away, 4-2, for the Flyers was born of an equal combination of grit, skill, iffy decision-making and luck.

With less than a minute left, Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds took the puck from his left defensive circle and, instead of flipping it to center ice or trying to clear it up the boards, carried it in front of his own net with two Rangers in close pursuit.

Simmonds managed to carry the puck out of his defensive zone and hit New York's empty net seconds later to lock up the Flyers' first win of the series.

Returning to a theme, the play Simmonds made at the end of the game was thrilling, but not the sort of play you should try against a great team in its own building.

As often as not, one of the forechecking opponents knocks the puck free and suddenly the puck and the game are up for grabs in the slot in front of your net. 

These being the Flyers and the Rangers, though, Simmonds' play worked out just fine.

So the series comes to Philadelphia even at 1-1, the Rangers eschewing a chance to put the Flyers on the express train to elimination. The Flyers effectively saved their season in the last two periods of Game 2.

As long as the Flyers continue to play teams that are not demonstrably better than they are, they are apt to have several more of these "save the season" opportunities.

They will survive as long as they respond to them.

NEW YORK — Trailing 2-0 less than nine minutes into Game 2, the fans at Madison Square Garden serenaded Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ray Emery with a mocking chant filled with enough smugness to clog the air in a Brooklyn co-op organic food market.

"We want Hextall!"

"We want Hextall!"

Feeling pretty good about themselves, New York Rangers fans called for retired goaltender and current Flyers assistant general manager and director of hockey operations Ron Hextall to replace the embattled Emery. Hextall was watching from the press box high above the ice as the Rangers scored two goals on their first four shots, but his presence in net was not required.

Emery responded by stopping the final 29 shots he faced, allowing the Flyers to rally for a 4-2 victory in Game 2 of this first-round best-of-seven series that is now even at one game apiece.

Did Emery hear the chants when his team was in a two-goal hole?

"Yeah, a little bit," Emery said with a smile. "I'm focused on what I'm doing."

"Oh yeah, I heard it," said Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds, whose tireless effort on an empty-net goal with 25.4 seconds remaining in the third period sealed the victory. "It is what it is. You can't care what the fans are going to say. We just put our heads down and went to work."

Emery's performance on Sunday afternoon was just his latest comeback in a career that could have been over long ago.

It was in December 2009 during his first stint with the Flyers when Emery was diagnosed with avascular necrosis, a career-threatening disease that results in tissue dying and the bone collapsing. Surgery requiring a bone graft to improve blood flow and save his hip forced him out of hockey until March 2011, when he joined the Anaheim Ducks.

Emery signed with the Chicago Blackhawks for the next two seasons and won the Stanley Cup as a backup in 2013. He returned to Philadelphia this summer to back up Steve Mason, who has yet to appear in this series because of an undisclosed upper-body injury.

The perseverance shown by Emery on Sunday is nothing new to Flyers coach Craig Berube, who was an assistant coach during Emery's first go-round with the organization.

"He's a battler; always has been," Berube said. "I've known Ray for a while. We had him here before and he stays with it. He's very good at that. He's a true pro."

The question staring at Berube for Game 3 in Philadelphia on Tuesday is: Even if Mason is recovered enough to start, has Emery done enough to maintain the net?

Consider that of the six goals Emery has allowed against the Rangers, four of them probably would not have been stopped by even the best of goalies.

Brad Richards and Derek Stepan scored in Game 1 off a lucky ricochet and cross-ice pass, respectively, that left Emery with no chance to push across and make a save. In Game 2, Martin St. Louis and Benoit Pouliot scored off similar passes through the middle of the ice that gave Emery no hope of making the save.

On Pouliot's goal that made it 2-0, Emery caught an unlucky break, as the flubbed one-time attempt floated over his head when he was otherwise in a decent position to stop it. 

If Mason starts Game 3, it will have been 10 days since he last played. After a blistering start to the season, he has a .909 save percentage since Dec. 4. Sure, he went 5-2-1 with a .933 save percentage in his final nine starts this season, but he's never won a postseason game, and Emery has been to the Stanley Cup Final twice.

If it's not broken, why fix it?

"We'll look at that when it comes about," Berube said. "Right now, we're at where we're at. I'm not really thinking that far ahead."

The Flyers solved their issues with the seam pass over the final two periods, and Emery appeared to adjust as well. He moved deftly to his right to shut the door on a chance for Derek Stepan late in the second period with the Flyers ahead 3-2, then moved well to stifle a chance for Mats Zuccarello in the third period to preserve the one-goal lead.

"He's obviously ready for it," Berube said. "We all study film and watch them and know what they're going to do. He's no different. He can anticipate a little bit and get over there."

Emery also got the job done with the undisciplined Flyers short-handed six times, denying eight of nine shots with the Rangers on a power play.

The Rangers dominated the possession battle for a second game in a row, posting a 65-41 edge in Corsi. If the Flyers can solidify just a little bit more defensively (they blocked 22 shots in Game 2) and get away from their penchant for taking minor penalties in Game 3, Emery probably gives them a better chance to win than Mason. 

"He was huge tonight once again," said Flyers center Sean Couturier, who led the team's forwards in ice time with 20:27 and delivered a splendid defensive effort. "Last game, he played a big game. He was one of our best players. Today, again he was one of our best players. He's a big part of the PK too, the success. He made some big saves at the right moment and kept us in the game all game."

Emery also gave the Flyers their first win at Madison Square Garden since February 2011, breaking an 0-9 stretch on the road against the Rangers.

If the Flyers want to win this series, they should go back to Emery for Game 3.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveLozo.

The Philadelphia Flyers lost an eminently winnable Game 1 of their first round Stanley Cup Playoff series with the New York Rangers because someone named Jason Akeson hit Rangers left wing Carl Hagelin in the mouth with his stick.

That is the easy narrative, anyway. Before Game 1, the 23-year-old Akeson had played two regular-season National Hockey League games in his entire life.

His third NHL game, a playoff opener, featured Akeson sitting in the penalty box while the Rangers scored on both halves of his third period double-minor penalty for high-sticking Hagelin. Those two Rangers goals turned a taut 1-1 game into a foregone conclusion.

The aftermath of Game 1 found plenty of media types overanalyzing Akeson's role in the Flyers' loss. The kid was to blame.

Another Flyers center skated away more or less unscathed, both literally and figuratively since he did not play much hockey in New York on the night.

The Flyers signed Vincent Lecavalier to a reported five-year, $22.5 million contract this past July, per Pierre Lebrun of ESPN.com.

Lebrun summarized Lecavalier's resume at the time by saying, "The four-time All-Star, drafted No. 1 overall by the Lightning in 1998, helped the franchise win the Stanley Cup in 2004 and scored a franchise-high 383 goals."

That was the good news.

Lebrun also tossed in that the "6-foot-4, 208-pound center is no longer the serious threat that he once was."

Lecavalier had an uneven season in Philadelphia, struggling but ultimately succeeding in scoring at least 20 goals for the fifth time in the past six seasons.

Theoretically, though, a signing like Lecavalier's is not made with January Saturday nights in Phoenix or February Monday nights in San Jose in mind.

A signing like Lecavalier's is made with playoff hockey in mind.

In Game 1 of this series, Lecavalier played 7:42 without managing even one shot.

Even in the past month when Flyers coach Craig Berube moved Lecavalier on and off the fourth line to motivate him, Lecavalier never played fewer than 11 minutes.

But with the Flyers desperately needing to break a Madison Square Garden jinx, Berube played Lecavalier sparingly while giving Akeson 13:07 of ice time. Even that statistic is misleading, since Akeson probably would have played more had he not spent that time in the penalty box.

Lecavalier's pseudo-benching in the first game of this playoff series is damning, damaging stuff for everyone involved.

For Lecavalier, it is an embarrassing indictment of his erosion as a player. One can only imagine what was going through his head watching his old teammate Brad Richards eviscerating the Flyers in the third period.

For Berube, the decision to play Akeson almost twice as long as Lecavalier is at best puzzling and at worst sort of insane.

And for the organization, seeing Lecavalier willfully held out of so much of the action in a playoff game makes their commitment in years and dollars to the center (who will turn 34 on April 21) seem at once desperate and misguided.

There is nothing about any of this that a crucial Lecavalier goal (or three) in Game 2 would not solve.

Then again, had Lecavalier done anything in Game 1, we wouldn't be having this conversation. 

The Philadelphia Flyers lost their starting goaltender on the eve of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Steve Mason was injured last Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins when forward Jayson Megna shoved Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald into his own goalie. On the play, Mason's head and neck snapped back.

It is likely Mason sustained a concussion or is suffering from concussion-like symptoms. The Flyers refuse to confirm the exact nature of his injuries. 

"I don't feel I need to divulge," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren explained to Dave Isaac of The South Jersey Courier-Post. "We're at a critical time in our season right now. I don't feel the need to divulge what's wrong with a player. He's gonna play or not. That's what's gonna tell you."

In Mason's absence, veteran Ray Emery got the start in Game 1 for the Flyers when they traveled to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Rangers. Rookie Cal Heeter, who has exactly one game of NHL experience, served as Emery's backup.

If you examine each goalie's statistics this season, Emery is a big step back from Mason. Mason went 33-18-7 while Emery was below .500 at 9-12-2. Emery had a better GAA (2.50 to 2.96) and a better save percentage (.917 to .903).

But Emery does have two advantages over Mason. First, he has a lot more playoff experience. Mason has played in exactly four playoff games over the course of his NHL career and has yet to win a postseason game.

Emery, on the other hand, has played in 36 playoff games and has a 20-15 record. He also helped lead the Ottawa Senators to the Stanley Cup Final back in 2007 and was a member of last year's Chicago Blackhawks team that won a championship.

In addition, Emery has had a lot of success against the Rangers during his career. Emery is 7-2 against New York with an impressive 1.87 GAA and .936 save percentage. 

This year, however, in one game, Emery lost his only game against the Rangers by a 4-1 score.

Because of his experience, Emery is taking his surprise start in stride. "I take everything as a learning experience," Emery told Sarah Baicker of CSNPhilly.com. "You learn from successes, you learn from failures as well. I’ve had a lot of both. I get excited to play in these situations. Especially playoffs, especially in a group like this."

The Flyers seem to be confident regardless of which goalie starts Thursday night. "Mase or Razor, I think we have a lot of confidence in them," Giroux told Baicker. "They’ve played some big games for us this year. Obviously, Razor has some experience in the playoffs. He’s won a Cup. For him to bring that experience, it’s good."

Another difference between Mason and Emery is Mason catches with his right hand, while Emery wears his glove on his left. For the Rangers, it will be like shooting at a mirror image of Mason if Emery is between the pipes.

Regardless of who plays in net, the Flyers need to receive solid goaltending and play a responsible form of team defense in front of their netminder.

"Things happen," Philadelphia head coach Craig Berube told Baicker. "Good teams find a way to get it done."

Updates from Wednesday, April 30

Randy Miller of NJ.com provides an update on the nature of Steve Mason's injury:

Updates from Thursday, April 24

The Philadelphia Flyers have updated Steve Mason's status for Game 4:

Updates from Wednesday, April 23

Sam Carchidi of The Philadelphia Enquirer has the latest on Steve Mason:

Updates from Tuesday, April 22

Sam Carchidi of The Philadelphia Enquirer has the latest on Mason's status:

Randy Miller of NJ.com reports that Mason later had a change of heart this afternoon:

Fully 100 percent healthy again, Mason will back up Ray Emery for Tuesday night’s game against the Rangers and possibly be back starting for Friday night’s Game 4.

(...)

Why not play Mason in Game 3?

“Why?” Flyers coach Craig Berube responded. “Ray won Game 2. Ray’s played well. … (Mason) was injured, he’s better and he’s gonna backup. That’s it.”

Not surprisingly, Berube wouldn’t commit to playing either goalie in Game 4.

“I’m worried about tonight,” he said.

Mason would wind up playing vs. the Rangers after the Flyers fell behind 4-1, per the Flyers twitter:

Updates from Monday, April 21

Arthur Staple of Newsday has the latest on Steve Mason:

Mason spoke about his health and Ray Emery's play (via Sarah Baicker of CSNPhilly.com):

“Every day, honestly, it’s a different story,” Mason said. “Some days are really good and others aren’t great. Today was better. We’ll just hope tomorrow’s even better than today.”

(...)

“Right now, the way Razor’s playing, there’s no hurry,” Mason said. “He’s the reason we won yesterday, so I think even if I was ready there’s no reason to take him out right now.”

Updates from Saturday, April 19

Jim Cerny of NHL.com has the latest on Mason:

However, Randy Miller of NJ.com reports that the goalie will be out for Game 2:

Updates from Friday, April 18

Sam Carchidi of The Philadelphia Inquirer confirms Steve Mason returned to practice today and provides a synopsis of Mason discussing his potential return to the ice: 

Updates from Thursday, April 17

Steve Mason's status was updated prior to Thursday's Game 1 vs. New York (via Jeff Zipay of Newsday and Katie Strang of ESPN):

Original Text

Philadelphia Flyers starting goaltender Steve Mason is going miss at least Game 1 of the team's playoff clash with the New York Rangers due to injury. Ray Emery will draw the start.

The Flyers made the announcement on Wednesday, one day before their Round 1 series is set to begin:

Mason was injured in Philadelphia's penultimate game of the regular season against the Pittsburgh Penguins when Andrew MacDonald fell on him following a check from Jayson Megna. He was forced to leave that contest and didn't play in the finale.

Randy Miller of NJ.com passed along comments from Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren earlier in the week about the situation. He said medical clearance wouldn't be necessary, but provided no further details about the ailment or when the netminder would be available:

"I'm not going to comment on that," GM Paul Holmgren said. "Right now we'll just stick with upper-body injury. He's dealing with some issues there."

Holmgren said Mason doesn't need medical clearance to play.

"No, it's more treatment," he said. "We're in a critical time in our season right now. I don't feel I need to divulge what's wrong with a player."

He also provided brief remarks from Mason that were sent through the team's public relations staff. He didn't yield any light on the subject, simply stating: "I feel better each day and we’ll see how I feel tomorrow."

Apparently not enough progress was made for him to play in the opening game. Furthermore, Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News notes Mason isn't traveling with the team to New York, which is also the site of Game 2:

Mason appeared in 61 games during the regular season. He posted a 2.50 goals against average and a .917 save percentage to go along with four shutouts.

Emery wasn't nearly as reliable. His goals against average was nearly a half-goal higher at 2.96 and his save percentage was a lackluster .903. He also finished the regular season with a losing record, going 9-12-2 in 23 decisions.

Given how evenly matched the Flyers and Rangers are—they finished just two points apart in the standings and split four meetings during the regular season—the absence of Mason is definitely going to have an impact.

Philadelphia just has to hope it can keep the series close until he's ready to return, assuming the injury isn't more serious than the team is letting on. Emery does have 36 games of postseason experience, but his save percentage in those games is identical to his .903 mark from this season.

The Flyers could still advance if he's forced to start for more than one game, but it definitely would lessen their margin for error.