Sielski: Can Flyers' Mason overcome humiliating goal?

WASHINGTON - Steve Mason was already on his knees, and once the puck passed through his legs and into the net, once more than 18,000 stunned and jubilant Capitals fans filled the Verizon Center with sound, once he looked behind him and realized what he had allowed to happen, he threw his head back and looked to the ceiling. In that instant, in that pose, he seemed to be asking for absolution for perhaps the greatest goaltending gaffe in Flyers postseason history - a pardon that neither a divine force nor his Flyers teammates were capable of delivering.

The Flyers lost, 4-1, on Saturday night to the Capitals, and they trail this first-round series, two games to none. But those basic facts will eventually fade from memory, and Mason's momentary abdication of all his puck-stopping skills will live forever on blooper montages; on YouTube playlists; and, if Mason's not careful, in his own guilty conscience.

"You just have to have a short memory," Mason said. "It sucked. It's a crappy feeling. I just completely messed up on it. It should have been a simple play for me. I messed up."

To blink was to miss it and wonder what had happened. To see it was to wonder how it had. Less than 21/2 minutes into the second period, his team holding a 1-0 lead, Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner cleared the puck up the left-wing boards. Standing at the red line, forward Jason Chimera tipped it, and the puck skidded 101 feet toward the Flyers' net. Just seconds earlier, Mason had made consecutive spectacular saves, splitting his legs Nureyev-style to get his left pad on a shot by John Carlson, then kicking away a one-timer from the left circle by Alzner.

But this time, with the puck wobbling toward him like a shuffleboard disk pushed by a senior citizen, something went wrong. Mason said that he wanted to use his stick to swipe the puck into the left corner. Instead, he sat deep in his net, made an awkward movement, and handed the best team in the NHL this season a goal it didn't deserve.

"It wasn't good," he said. "My fault, obviously. I put the team in a tough position after that. Just a bad goal."

Yes, he had put the Flyers in an all-but-impossible position. He didn't lose the game for them, but they're not equipped to steal a game on the road in this series when Mason makes so deflating a mistake. They have one goal in two games, despite throwing 42 shots at Washington goaltender Braden Holtby on Saturday, and they lack the talent and balance to score goals with the ease that the Capitals can.

Remember, though: None of these truths was a secret entering the series. It was always going to be a minor miracle for this Flyers team to upset the Capitals, and just qualifying for the postseason, just gaining additional playoff experience, was always going to be the most valuable benefit for the franchise to extract from this matchup against a superior opponent. Dave Hakstol, the Flyers' head coach, was asked the obligatory question after Saturday's game: Would he consider benching Mason for Game 3 on Monday night?

"I haven't thought a whole lot about that," Hakstol said. "What, are we 20 minutes from the end of the hockey game, fellas? Mase has been outstanding for us. . . . Mase has been a guy who's carried us through different parts of this season, especially down the stretch."

Hakstol's words alone don't convey his dismissal of the question's premise, and he was right to bat it aside. Over his final 31 regular-season games, Mason posted a .923 save percentage and a 2.28 goals-against average. He was as responsible as anyone for the Flyers' reaching the playoffs, and in the context of this series, of the Flyers' future, it makes no sense for Hakstol to sit Mason and start Michal Neuvirth. In 2014, too, Mason was the primary reason that the Flyers got to a seventh game in the first round against the New York Rangers. He was that good, and if he is to be the Flyers' franchise goalie, then he has to be afforded the opportunity to overcome a game-turning blunder like the one he committed Saturday.

After it happened, when Mason was doubled over in his crease and the embarrassment was still fresh in Mason's mind and heart, Flyers forward Ryan White skated over and put his arm around him. It was a sign of Mason's standing with his teammates, their recognition of his importance to them now, next season, and beyond.

"Endless support from the boys," he said. "But at the same time, it's my fault. I realize that. And it can't happen moving forward here."

On to Game 3 on Monday, then, when Steve Mason gets a chance to put the most humiliating moment of his hockey life behind him. No one who saw that goal Saturday night will forget it, but the man who allowed it has to do everything in his power to try.

msielski@phillynews.com

@MikeSielski