For so much of the 2014-15 season, Steve Mason has been the key to success for the Flyers. The goalie that practically carried the team through the early portion of the season had been sidelined for six games prior to Tuesday night.
Mason wasn't the starter on Tuesday night, but he might as well get credit for one. Mason played 59:02 in goal, taking over for Ray Emery after 5:50, and didn't show any signs of rust.
In all, Mason made 25 saves – 22 in game action plus three more in the shootout – as the Flyers managed to rally from an early deficit for a 4-3 shootout win over the Arizona Coyotes.
"I thought he played well, did a good job," head coach Craig Berube said. "He went in there and competed. That was the biggest thing for me. He probably wasn't as sharp as he'd like to be but he competed hard and ended up winning the game."
"It wasn't exactly the plan, but it's probably easier that way," Mason said. "With the long layoff, there's obviously room for improvement. The guys in front of me, it was their effort that won the game."
So there were the Flyers, just six minutes into their return from the All-Star break, showing shades of breaks past. The team needed a wake-up call.
"I didn't think the team was flat," Berube said. "I just made a change. I thought we needed something to boost us, give us some life."
Mason made several game-changing saves. In the first, as the Flyers worked to chip away at the deficit, Mason stood tall, stopping a pair of solid chances on a Flyers penalty kill.
Special teams chances were hard to come by. The Coyotes had one power play and failed to scored. The Flyers had two. They scored on their first mid-way through the first period.
Secondary scoring proved the be crucial to the Flyers success again. Wayne Simmonds snapped an eight-game goalless drought. He was also the hero in the shootout. Ironically, the last time Simmonds scored in regulation was on Jan. 6, where he also scored the game-winner in a shootout.
"I think that was more indicative of the team than Ray," Simmonds said. "We turned it around, started playing better hockey and got results."
R.J. Umberger would tie the game at 13:55 of the second. Prior to scoring, Umberger had three solid scoring chances, including a rebound chance just seconds before that Smith stopped with the pads.
Michael Del Zotto added his seventh goal of the season with 1:01 remaining in the second. It took the Coyotes just 23 seconds to answer, in what was Mason's only blemish of the night. There wasn't much he could do to stop Tobias Rieder's breakaway chance.
But Mason did make the big saves in three shootout attempts for the Coyotes. The first by Sam Gagner was shot wide. Mason made the save on Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Antoine Vermette.
"To have some success the last two times is definitely nice," Mason said. "We've put the work in recently. It's nice to get rewarded for that."
The Flyers continually talk about still competing for a playoff spot. As unlikely as that seems, they started the unlikely quest the right way on Tuesday.
Mainly, it was due to the goaltender that will have to carry them the rest of the way.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
