Steve Mason's psyche has long been treacherous territory, the cause of the questions that always seem to arise whenever he comes close to solidifying himself as the Flyers' franchise goaltender, and here was one more example late Thursday night.
Coach Dave Hakstol had replaced Mason with Michal Neuvirth after the second period of the Flyers' 5-4 win over the Canucks. It was hardly a surprising decision, born of Mason's surrendering a soft stuff-in goal by Markus Grandlund and Hakstol's desire to inspire his team to play better collective defense. Hakstol reaffirmed as much afterward, going out of his way to bury the idea that he had lost any confidence in Mason and that Mason should lose any confidence in himself.