Flyers turn to Michal Neuvirth in hopes of avoiding sweep

If the Washington Capitals are going to finish off their sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers Wednesday night, they’ll do so against Michal Neuvirth, not Steve Mason.

With their season on the line, Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol will turn to Neuvirth, who last started in the regular season finale on April 10. It was be the netminder’s first postseason start since May 4, 2011 when he was a member of the Washington Capitals.

After being a valuable piece of the Flyers’ surprising season, Mason has had a tough go of it in Round 1 against the Capitals. From the unfortunate Jason Chimera goal to the pounding Philadelphia’s penalty kill unit took in Game 2, there’s no way his confidence is anywhere it needs to be while facing elimination, nor is his .922 even strength save percentage. A change could do some good, maybe … but probably not given the way Washington has played.

But while Mason could have been better, the bigger issue has been the lack of scoring among the Flyers’ top players. Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds have failed to score or record a point through three games. No Flyer player has more than a single point in the series, which isn’t good considering even Braden Holtby notched an assist the other night.

It’s not going to matter who’s in goal for Philly if they can’t find a way to beat Holtby on a regular basis.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy

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