Dave Hakstol: 'I Don't See Fatigue' In Steve Mason
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- When it was revealed that Flyers backup -- or "1B" goalie -- Michal Neuvirth suffered a meniscus tear in his left knee on March 16th, it seemed inevitable.
With 13 games still remaining on the schedule, 22-year-old rookie goalie Anthony Stolarz was likely going to be thrust into a pivotal start amid the team's playoff push.
Six games later, that doesn't seem so inevitable anymore, as starting goalie Steve Mason has been brilliant.
"I don't see a lot of fatigue," Hakstol said of Mason on 94WIP Tuesday, with Glen Macnow and Ike Reese. "Most importantly, I don't see any mental fatigue in Mase. He's going well right now. So we'll just continue reading things on a day-by-day basis. Mase has been outstanding for our team. Like I said, as long as he's able to stay fresh both physically and mentally we'll keep pushing forward."
Listen: Dave Hakstol on the 94WIP Mike & Ike Show
The Flyers are 3-2-1 in their last six games, but Mason allowed more than two goals in just one of those six contests. In a 3-2 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 22nd, Mason stopped 51 of 53 shots.
So should we expect to see Mason for all of the team's remaining seven games or is Stolarz's NHL debut looming?
"I'm not making any prediction there," Hakstol said. "We've got three back-to-backs coming, we got 12 days left in the season. There's a lot of hockey left to be played. So, when I say that, that's what I see in him [Mason] right at this current time and we're just gonna keep reading it day-by-day."
While Mason has been a rock between the pipes, captain Claude Giroux has been the team's leader on the ice. Giroux has scored in four of the last five games and continues to one of the league's best at faceoffs.
Related: Claude Giroux Is Philly's Most Underappreciated Athlete
"Well he's such a competitor and that makes him a great leader," Hakstol said of Giroux. "For him to be willing to take a few points off the top and maybe, as you say, to be overlooked a little bit -- which certainly I don't believe that he is. Certainly not in our locker room and I don't believe here in the city with hockey fans, that he is overlooked. But just in terms in his overall, he's one of the top guys, if not the top faceoff man in the league. He's playing very hard both directions. He's killing penalties for us, as well as continuing to be our leading scorer."