Mason wins his first as Flyers flatten Oilers

On election night, the incumbent goalie, Steve Mason, finally got some support from his people . . . um, teammates.

Especially Jake Voracek.

Voracek continued his blistering scoring pace, and Mason finally registered his first win of the season as the Flyers ended a two-game losing streak, defeating the Edmonton Oilers, 4-1, at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night.

Voracek scored a pair of first-period goals to briefly jump into a tie with Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby for the NHL points lead. The goals gave him 18 points in the Flyers' 12th game. Last season, he didn't register his 18th point until Game 34 on Dec. 17.

"It's awesome," Mason said. "I've kind of grown up with him, being in the Columbus organization with him, and I knew he could be a special player if he put everything together, and he's starting to do that. The way he's going, he can take over a hockey game."

Mason, who has been better than his record indicates, improved to 1-4-1 as the Flyers evened their record at 5-5-2. Aided by three shots that hit iron, Mason made 35 saves and soundly outplayed his rusty counterpart, Viktor Fasth, who allowed four goals on the first 15 shots he faced. Fasth was playing for the first time in three weeks, having been sidelined by a groin injury.

"It's nice to get it, definitely," Mason said of his initial win. "You try to look at the bigger picture when things aren't going well . . . but it's nice to get the first one."

Mason made two great saves - one after losing his stick - on an Edmonton power play with a little over 14 minutes left. That drew chants of "Ma-son, Ma-son" from the huge crowd. The Flyers' penalty kill is 17 for 17 at home.

The 26-year-old goalie wore a new mask with a matte finish so that the shine of the arena's new lights wouldn't reflect off it.

"Every time I get on the ice, it gets better and better [at home]," Mason said, adding that the lights can be difficult "because we don't practice here every day."

The Flyers' only negative was that top-line left winger Michael Raffl suffered a lower-body injury blocking Mark Fayne's third-period shot and left the game for treatment. The severity of the injury won't be known until Wednesday, general manager Ron Hextall said.

Just 3 minutes, 59 seconds into the game, Voracek scored on a wraparound against the slow-to-react Fasth, caroming a shot off the goalie's skate. About 12 minutes later, Voracek scored from the left circle after a pass bounced off the skate of Edmonton defenseman Jeff Petry, firing a shot to the far side.

Voracek, who lost about 10 pounds in the offseason to increase his speed, came within inches of a natural hat trick, but his backhander from out front went off the post with 12:19 to go in the first.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare made it 3-0 early in the second period, deflecting Chris VandeVelde's shot off the skate of defenseman Oscar Klefbom and past Fasth as the puck trickled into the net.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins sped past Zac Rinaldo and Mark Streit and beat Mason midway through the second, slicing the Flyers lead to 3-1. But a little over two minutes later, defenseman Luke Schenn took a pass from his brother, Brayden, and scored from deep inside the right circle to make it 4-1. It was Schenn's first goal of the season and 100th career point.

Brayden Schenn took the puck away from a defender behind the net before feeding his brother, whose shot appeared to go under Fasth's right arm.

"It wasn't the prettiest shot, but it's always fun to connect like that," Luke Schenn said after scoring his 22d career goal.

The Flyers, coming off a 0-2 road trip through Florida, started a four-game homestand in which they will face four extremely beatable opponents: the Oilers, Florida, Colorado, and Columbus.

"This is huge for us," said veteran defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo, who played well in his Flyers debut. "We want to solidify home ice and get the fans into it, and I think we did a good job of that tonight."

The win gave the Flyers a 3-1-2 home record, while the Oilers - who played without leading scorer Taylor Hall (knee injury) and suspended defenseman Andrew Ference - slipped to 0-3-1 on the road.

@BroadStBull