TAMPA, Fla. -- Ray Emery made his fourth consecutive start in goal for the Flyers during Thursday’s 4-3 loss against the Lightning at Amalie Arena.
That’s a Flyer first for the 32-year-old goalie.
The last time Emery appeared in four consecutive games was in 2013 between Feb. 15 and 22 in Chicago.
That was during his remarkable 17-1 season for the Blackhawks when he posted his best goals against average (1.94) and had a .922 save percentage in 21 games.
You could easily make the case that the Flyers' seemingly stable situation in goal has flip-flopped this fall with the starter, Steve Mason, becoming the backup, and the backup emerging as the starter.
Right now, that’s the case. But good luck convincing head coach Craig Berube of it.
“You guys are starting that,” Berube said. “It’s not about that. We’re a team. We are going to use both guys. I will tell you that right now. Just like last year. They are both going to play.”
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So what if Emery ends up splitting the season with Mason?
“I’ve seen Jacques Lemaire do that a lot,” Berube said. “I seen him do that with goalies in Minnesota for years and he clearly had a No. 1.”
Are you open to Emery being your No. 1?
“I’m open to winning hockey,” Berube replied. “I’m going to put the best guy on the ice to win hockey games. That is what I am doing. That is my job. Put the best team on the ice at game time.”
There’s a couple reasons why Emery started against Tampa Bay. First, he has the hot hand and had been giving the Flyers points in every appearance.
Mason hasn’t played in over a week. His confidence has flatlined at the moment, and to throw him in against the Lightning wouldn’t have done anything to boost it.
The better choice for Mason is to ease him back into the starter’s role, beginning at Florida on Saturday.
“I won’t talk about that,” Berube said. “I am talking about right now in Tampa Bay tonight … I won’t talk about Florida yet because I don’t know who is playing yet. Tomorrow, I will have an idea. You can keep asking me, but I am not going down that road.
“I don’t look at an opponent and put this guy in or that guy in to get them going. That’s not the way I look at it. Mase is going to play, for sure, at some point. He’s going to get in there, whether it’s Florida or Edmonton. I don’t know right now.”
Emery’s hip surgery is now a year removed. It’s fairly obvious he is moving far better laterally in net than he did all of his last season. He admitted the comments made during the Rangers' playoff series about his inability to go post to post bothered him.
Whether he changed his workout routine for his hips is unknown.
Berube says he’s not sure why Emery seems more fluid in goal.
“Ray looks real sharp,” he said. “Ray looks quick in there. Ray looks big in there, confident in there. That is stuff I notice. A lot of it is confidence. He is quicker.
“But I don’t know what he did in the summer exactly. He came in great shape. Great shape. You put yourself in good position to do these things by going into the summer time and putting the work in and getting yourself in great shape.”
General manager Ron Hextall said he is not worried about Mason.
“Admittedly, he thinks he needs to play better,” Hextall said. “He hasn’t played as bad as his record shows. He’s had some poor luck. Games where we haven’t played well. He’s going to be fine and get his game going.”
Emery’s four-game run is likely over now. That doesn’t mean he won’t start another streak.
Mason will likely go against the Panthers on Saturday.
After that? Who knows.