Every time we think Steve Mason is about to go into the net for the Flyers or whether he's going to remain out, something unexpected occurs.
Last weekend, we all thought Mason would go in Game 2 based on a practice the previous day that was so upbeat, the Flyers sent Cal Heeter to Hershey.
Next day, we find out that Mason had all kinds of head/neck issues and wasn't going and Heeter was being recalled.
Then Mason pronounces himself unfit to play in Game 3 and won't be dressing the day before Game 3. What happens? He ends up backing up the next night in what was Ray Emery's poorest performance in the series after a 4-1 loss.
On Wednesday, Mason said he expected to be ready to start Game 4.
In New York, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said his club would be preparing to face Mason - not Emery _ in Game 4.
All the while, Flyers captain Claude Giroux predicted a Flyers win on Friday night and a 2-2 series by the time they arrived in New York for Sunday's Game 5.
Emery has done about all he can. He is not longer an everyday starter in the NHL, especially in the cramped environment of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Now it will be up to Mason to make something happen. Get the Flyers even. Give them a chance.
Really, that's all you should expect from your goalie coming off an injury.
I like what Giroux said. So did Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, who said such predictions are totally within reason coming from a team captain. He gets it.
Yet the fact remains that Giroux's top line has been outplayed by the Rangers' top line with Derek Stepan. This isn't a series where the two lines have cancelled each other out. Rather, it is one line - Stepan's _ that has risen to the occasion and had an impact in the series.
It's time for the Flyers' top unit to respond. And yes, we noted the seven, 20-goal guys the Flyers had during the regular season. We all said someone would have to pick up the slack for Giroux's group if things got rough.
Well, the Flyers need production from those players and more from their top line. Two assists and two shots through 3 games from Giroux won't cut it.
G took offense to reporters asking about reaching back and remembering how much the club overcame in October and applying those lessons here. It is, afterall, just 2-1 in the series.
Yet in both Flyer losses thus far, very little went right for them and the concern is going back to Madison Square Garden down 3-1 in the series and playing in a building where the Flyers have won just once over the previous 10 games.
It gets dicey now and the Flyers have to respond.
I agree with coach Craig Berube that Giroux and his line have to buckle down and get some results and most of all, create space and shots for themselves. Don't look for help, Berube said. Help yourselves.
Few of us had the Flyers winning this series. But it's not a lost cause if the scoring picks up.
For Game 4, Mason has to be the difference. This is make or break time for him. A time to forget about what happened in Columbus and establish a new legacy in Philadelphia.
Time's yours, Steve. Your's too, Claude.
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