Steve Mason, Jake Voracek lead Flyers over Oilers, 4-1

JAKE VORACEK was one post away from a hat trick.

Steve Mason was one period away from his first win of the season.

The Flyers were ahead by a 4-1 margin when the horn sounded to signify the end of the second period - yet you probably wouldn't be able to tell that was the case by the way the last half of the frame played out.

From the looks of it, with the Oilers buzzing, the third period was set up to be a classic trap.

The Flyers were comfortably in front, nursing a three-goal lead against one of the NHL's most futile teams. It was unfamiliar territory, too, considering they entered the third period with a lead just twice in their first 11 games.

"I think we kind of let our foot off the gas a little bit there in the second period," Luke Schenn said. "We haven't had too many leads at all this season, so we've got to do a better job of not sitting back."

Despite being shorthanded twice in the first 10 minutes of the third period, the Flyers never flinched, cruising to a much-needed, 4-1 victory over Edmonton last night at Wells Fargo Center. They are now 3-1-1 against the significantly better Western Conference to start the season.

The Flyers were bailed out by Mason, who earned that first win, but they also pushed the pace against a quick Oilers team that skated circles around them to close out the second period.

"I thought it was our best period of the game," coach Craig Berube said. "We killed a couple penalties, with Mason making big saves at the end. But I thought once we killed those penalties, we started to penetrate more.

"We got pucks in and there was a little more intensity in the game. I thought the first two periods were not casual, just sloppy at times for me - not enough attack. I thought we had more attack in the third than we did in the other two periods."

Voracek scored twice in the opening period, making last night his sixth multipoint game of the young season. He now has 18 points, one back of Sidney Crosby for the league lead.

Last year, it took Voracek until his 34th game to notch his 18th point, not coming until Dec. 17. Now, he is off to the best 12-game start of any Flyer since Peter Forsberg (25 points) and Simon Gagne (23) teamed up to kick off the 2005-06 calendar.

In fact, the only game Voracek doesn't have at least one point this season was in Chicago on Oct. 21, when the entire team was blanked by the Blackhawks.

Just don't remind him.

"I feel pretty good, but we're only 12 games in," Voracek said. "We can talk about it when we're 50-60 games in."

With the help of a few timely pucks off posts, Mason bailed the Flyers out in the third period when Edmonton was thriving on the power play. The Flyers' penalty kill actually hasn't allowed a single goal on home ice this season - a perfect 17-for-17 run.

"The second period, they kind of carried the play and put me in a situation where I could make some saves," Mason said. "This is something to build off of. It's only one game, but at the same time, it's nice to finally have a good feeling after a game."

Flyers leading goal scorer Michael Raffl left the game in the third period after awkwardly blocking a shot from Oilers defenseman Mark Fayne. Raffl appeared to turn suddenly before Fayne's shot connected, exposing the unprotected area on the back of his leg.

Flyers general manager Ron Hextall confirmed Raffl has a "lower-body" injury but did not have any definitive information on how long (if at all) he'll be out of the lineup.

"We'll know more probably [today]," Hextall said. "I really don't know. If I wasn't concerned, I wouldn't be telling [the media] it's a 'lower-body' injury. So, yeah, I'm concerned but I really won't know until [today]."

If Raffl misses any time, he'll be the third Flyer taken down by a blocked shot, joining Vinny Lecavalier and Braydon Coburn.

"We caught a lot of breaks last year, and this year it's kind of going the other way," Hextall said. "But that's why you've got to have depth."

Luke Schenn's 100th NHL point, the Flyers' fourth goal, was assisted by his brother Brayden . . . Defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo said he was "definitely nervous" in his Flyers debut. He performed well in his first NHL game since April 13, logging nearly 17 minutes with one shot on-goal and one hit . . . Forward Blair Jones was placed on waivers. If Jones, 28, is not claimed by noon today, he will be re-assigned to the Phantoms . . . Jones' demotion will clear enough room on the Flyers' roster for Braydon Coburn to make his return at some point this week. Coburn, out since Oct. 8 with a left foot injury, skated with the team again before the game.

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