Rangers at Flyers
After guiding the Philadelphia Flyers for much of the season, Steve Mason will start Game 4 on Friday as his team vies to even its Eastern Conference first-round series against the visiting New York Rangers. Sidelined since April 12 with an upper-body injury, Mason relieved Ray Emery in the latter stages of a 4-1 loss in Game 3 on Tuesday. Mason felt fine after that contest as well as the ensuing practices, leading coach Craig Berube to hand the netminder his first postseason start since 2009.
"Second day in a row, third day really, where there were no issues on the ice," Mason said on Thursday. "Was a good feeling." The Flyers haven't enjoyed too many good feelings in their battle against their Metropolitan Division rival. Martin St. Louis has collected two goals and three assists in the first three contests of the series after mustering just one tally in 19 regular-season games after being acquired from Tampa Bay.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CNBC, TSN, RDS, MSG (New York), CSN (Philadelphia)
ABOUT THE RANGERS: Derick Brassard knew Mason very well during their time with Columbus and expects the goaltender to be on top of his game on Friday. "He had a good season, we have to expect him to be good," Brassard said. "He plays the puck well." After being a healthy scratch in the first two contests, agitator Daniel Carcillo made an impact in Game 3 by scoring a goal and providing a physical presence against his former team. "I know my role," Carcillo said. "I said it when I got here. No matter where I am in the lineup, to be an energy guy, a role guy, be physical, wear the other team down."
ABOUT THE FLYERS: Captain Claude Giroux made a bold proclamation mere moments after his team's lackluster performance on Tuesday by saying that, "We'll be ready for Game 4. We're going to tie up the series and go back to New York." One of the primary focal points of Philadelphia's offense, Giroux has notched two assists and all of two shots in the first three games of the series. Berube spent a significant portion of practice on Wednesday and Thursday addressing the team's power play, which is just 2-for-9 - with an empty-net goal - in the series.
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia RW Wayne Simmonds led the team with a career-high 29 goals this season but has just an empty-net tally in the series.
2. New York LW Rick Nash leads the team in both assists (four) and shots (18) and shares top honors in points (four) with C Brad Richards.
3. Flyers defensemen have scored three of the team's six goals in the series.