Steve Mason won't admit it, but his increased playing time has taken a toll.
The Philadelphia Flyers goaltender appeared in his ninth consecutive game Wednesday night, allowing four goals on 27 shots in a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers.
The Flyers have lost five straight games, turning November and December's 10-game win streak into a distant memory.
Mason has played in 25 of the last 27 contests and Wednesday's defeat was his 22nd start in the Flyers' last 24 games. It's the most work he's ever had in those spans.
"It's been a heavy workload, but at the same time, I'm not going to complain that the coaching staff trusted me with a heavy workload and (has) shown the trust to put me in, night in and night out," Mason told reporters, according to CSN Philly's Tim Panaccio.
Mason appeared in eight of the Flyers' wins during the win streak, posting a .926 save percentage. But he's allowed 20 goals in the eight games since, for an unsavory save percentage of .896.
"It's not a fun time right now," Mason said. "We have to find way to come out on top and just push through here without getting too discouraged."
Head coach Dave Hakstol refused to pin Mason's struggles on his energy level.
"No, not fatigue," Hakstol said. "It's a team game and we gave four (goals), plus an empty netter. As a team, we will leave it at that. We gave up four goals that were a little too easy."
The Flyers were left without an experienced backup when Michal Neuvirth went down in mid-November with what Panaccio reported at the time as a knee injury.
Anthony Stolarz was recalled in Neuvirth's absence, but the rookie played in only four of Philadelphia's 17 games - starting only two of them - before the Flyers returned him to the AHL and activated Neuvirth prior to Wednesday's game against the Rangers.
Having Neuvirth back should help ease the burden on Mason, and we'll see if Hakstol gives his starter a break when the Flyers play a home/away back to back against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday and Sunday.
Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.