WASHINGTON -- The crowd rose up and belted out a chant that goalies never want to hear.
Ma-son, Ma-son, Ma-son.
Steve Mason knew what just happened — a goal that will be remembered as a tip-in from approximately 105 feet away. He didn’t want to be reminded of it as evidenced by his drawn out stare up to the roof of the Verizon Center after seeing the puck trickle through his five-hole.
Yet there came the slow chants in unison, and they would last throughout the evening in the Flyers 4-1 loss to Washington (see Instant Replay). That Jason Chimera goal from beyond the red line wound up being the game-winning goal.
Mason took full blame of the mishap afterward. He said he tried to redirect the puck to the corner but he simply “messed up.” Following the play, Mason was appreciative of the reaction from his teammates, which head coach Dave Hakstol referred to as “water off a duck’s back.”
“Endless support from the boys,” Mason said. “At the same time, it’s my fault, I realize that. It can’t happen moving forward here.”
Jake Voracek and the Flyers would score seven minutes later, but that was all they could muster against Braden Holtby, who has stopped all but one of the 61 shots thrown his way in two games.
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Holtby didn’t have the clearest of views for Chimera’s goal, but he saw enough of it that he felt something for his counterpart.
“As a fellow goalie, you never want to see that happen,” Holtby said. “I’m glad it wasn’t a one-goal game in the end. As a team you want to earn your goals but weird bounces like that … it’s just you feel for him. We’ll have to be extra prepared next game because NHL goaltenders are mentally tough. He’ll come back with a good game.”
Like Holtby, Mason’s teammates fully expect their netminder to bounce back stronger than ever after his gaffe. If not for the play of the 27-year-old over the last month, the Flyers wouldn’t even be in the position they find themselves. As Claude Giroux put it, Mason has “bailed us out so many times.”
He, nor the Flyers, will let that one 105-foot goal define Mason’s season. It’s in the past, and that’s where it’ll stay.
“Well, he stopped four sure goals,” Voracek said. “He kept us in the game. That happens. He’s been around for a while, he’s an experienced guy. I don’t think he’ll read any newspapers.”
“Mase is one of the major reasons why we’re here,” Wayne Simmonds said. “Just let him know we have his back. He’s going to continue to play well for us. We have no doubts about that.”