Mason stopped 33 of 35 shots in a victory over the Rangers yesterday. It was a great bounce-back game for Mason, who was yanked in a blowout loss on Thursday. He will face Braden Holtby who also registered a win on Saturday afternoon.

Mason stopped 33 of 35 shots in a victory over the Rangers yesterday. It was a great bounce-back game for Mason, who was yanked in a blowout loss on Thursday. He will face Braden Holtby who also registered a win on Saturday afternoon.

Welcome folks, it's that time of the week again. This week's edition of SMC is being brought to you by 'Steve' as Ray gets the day off. Let's start by handing out major kudos to Jaromir Jagr and Alex Oveckin for their milestone moments last night. JJ gets his 700th goal. AO gets his 800th point. Future fantasy hockey Hall of Famers for sure! Is there a better big-game player than Jonathan Toews? He absolutely dominated in Chicago's 6-1 romp of Pittsburgh at Soldier Field. A game of huge stars dominated by one. Eddie Lack is projected to start the Heritage Classic for Vancouver. How much more disrespect can Roberto Luongo take? You think Marty St. Louis is playing with a chip on his shoulders since returning from Sochi? Four goals in the last two games, while apparently making it clear he wants out. If he stays put and Stamkos gets back soon, they should be the best fantasy forward tandem over the last 20 games or so. Phil Kessel has made James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak very fantasy relevant this season. Just like he did for Joffrey Lupul last year. In Steve Mason we trust? The Flyer's starting goalie had a 7-goal clunker sandwiched between 2 great wins against Colorado and the New York Rangers. So much for Team Russia's meltdown and a IOC suspension slowing them down... Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom are on "fire" for the Washington Capitals. Fantasy owners should enjoy the ride. Looking for a nice sleeper goalie with solid starting fantasy value? Darcy Kuemper that's who. It's looking less likely that Minnesota will be trading for a goalie by the deadline. If Johan Franzen can stay healthy for Detroit, he will put up big numbers with Henrik Zetterberg out. Big "IF" though.. Is Alex Semin hurt again? What else is new? Will Daniel Sedin ever score again? Tortorella's defensive scheme is "kryptonite" to the fantasy values of offensive stars. I am loving Jarome Iginla as solid fantasy option the rest of the way. The Olympic Break has done the 36-year old plenty of good. He has great chemistry with Krejci and Lucic. He is also perennially a second-half stud. Do you need anymore evidence? Now, speaking of second-half duds, hopefully many Kyle Okposo owners "sold high" when the news of JT's season-ending injury broke out. His numbers are about to get even worse if Vanek is dealt soon. Under Paul Maurice, Winnipeg goalie Ondrej Pavelec is very startable in all fantasy formats. Those poor Edmonton Oilers.. All these claims of incredible offensive ...

With Ray Emery day-to-day with a lower-body injury, Mason will get the nod in goal after a disappointing start on Thursday. He allowed four goals on 16 shots before being yanked for the third period. This afternoon he will go head-to-head with 'King Henrik' as the Flyers welcome the Rangers to Welss Fargo Center.

Mason stopped 38 of 39 shots in a win over the Avalanche in his third consecutive win prior to the Olympic break. After struggling for three and a half seasons in Columbus, Mason has enjoyed success in his first full season with the Flyers. Mason sits at 23-14-5 with a 2.49 GAA and .918 SV% on the season. Mason defeated the Sharks 5-2 on Feb. 3.

ALL GOALIES ARE CONFIRMED UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED AT THE TIME OF PRINT The Columbus Blue Jackets are still trying to claw their way into a playoff position but will find a tough opponent in the New Jersey Devils. Cory Schneider is firmly entrenched as the Devils Number 1 goaltender with Martin Brodeur quietly seeking a trade. Schneider's numbers are spectacular even though his win-loss record doesn't live up to those metrics.  However, he does give the Devils thebe best chance at winning, and that is what they need in order to get back into the playoff hunt.  Sergei Bobrovsky has been playing much better since his return from injury and he will need to lead the Jackets if they want to play in the dance come April. Devils at home.....The New York Islanders will face the Toronto Maple Leafs on the Island tonight but without their superstar, John Tavares.  Evgeni Nabokov will man the nets for the depleted squad while Jonathan Bernier goes for the Leafs. The Leafs may prove too much for the inexperienced Islanders who will also be without the services of Frans Nielsen & Matt Martin. Leafs blow away the Isles...their 11-4 surge started when they beat tonight's opponent, the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 in Chicago on January 8th. Henrik Lundqvist also started to return to form and the Rangers have been rolling along up until the Olympic break.  Lundqvist gets another days rest as Cam Talbot mans the pipes for the Blueshirts. The Hawks are 3-3-3 in past 9 and will try and get back on track with Corey Crawford getting the start. The Rangers should be focused as they don't play again until Saturday against Philly.  Rangers.... Speaking of Philly, San Jose heads into the City of Brotherly Love but won't find any as Steve Mason and the Flyers are pushing to secure a playoff position.  Alex Stalock should get the nod for the Sharks but will face a tough opponent tonight. Antti Niemi gets a little more rest. Take the cheesesteaks....The Montreal Canadiens had a tough overtime loss last night against Detroit but there is no letting up as they face the Eastern Conference leader, the Pittsburgh Penguins.  With Carey Price out for at least one more game, Peter Budaj (LIKELY) will probably man the crease again tonight. The Pens will probably go with Marc-Andre Fleury as they seek to lock down the top seed for the playoffs. With their legs under them now, I see an upset in Steeltown....A revitalized Braden Holtby leads the Washington Capitals into Miami, Florida to take on Tim ...

The Olympics are in full swing and ice hockey is starting to take flight. With the NHL on hiatus until February 25th, PrimePucks™ would like to treat the non-PRIME+PLUS subscribers to some past articles during the period.  Today we will feature a ROMIE HITS THE POST article from November 21, 2013.  Enjoy below! ROMIE HITS THE POST: STEVE MASON IS COMING ON by Michael - November 21, 2013 When the Philadelphia Flyers bought out Ilya Bryzgalov's contract this past summer and signed Ray Emery to a one year deal, a lot of people might have thought that Emery would be the starting goaltender for the Flyers this year. After all he was 17-1 last year with Chicago with a 1.94 goals against and a .922 save percentage.  But Philadelphia had also traded Michael Leighton to Columbus last spring for Steve Mason.  Mason had been the starter in Columbus for four years, although he really only had one successful season in 2008-2009 with a 33-20-7 year with a 2.29 goals against and a .916 save percentage and a whopping 10 shutouts.  Mason then had 3 difficult years with a very mediocre Columbus team, and with the advent of Sergei Bobrovsky he was deemed expendable.  Now the Flyers started this year miserably losing 6 of their first 7 games.  This resulted in the firing of Peter Laviolette as Coach and his replacement by Craig Berube.  Since the coaching change the Flyers have been playing much better, and they have won 4 of their last 5 games, losing only in a shootout to Winnipeg.  The main beneficiary of this resurgence by Philadelphia is their clear starting goalie Steve Mason.  Mason is only 25 years old, but he has 5 years of experience in the NHL.  He has good size as well at 6'4" and 223 lbs, but he moves quickly and is very athletic.  Mason is 6-7-2 so far on the season, but his metrics are very good with a 2.12 goals against average and a .932 save percentage. He has allowed 3 or less goals in 21 consecutive games, leading the NHL.  He has won 3 of his last 4 games, and we think he will be a bit of a fantasy surprise the rest of the year.  At 25 years old he has a great combination of experience and youth.  His glove hand is considered his main weakness, but he has been working hard on this issue and he has gotten better.  We expect him to have a good rest of the year.  Get him if you can. Stick Saves: We think that poolies tend to underestimate Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen.  That's because he has had a history of getting injured, and he had sort of 4 mediocre ...

Mason gave up two goals on 22 shots as the Flyers beat the Sharks 5-2 on Monday. Mason is 3-1-0 with a 1.50 GAA and .949 SV% in his last four starts. Despite taking the regulation loss in his first meeting with the Avalanche, Mason played very well stopping 29 of 31 shots. Tonight he will be looking to chalk up his 13th home victory of the year.

ALL GOALIES ARE CONFIRMED UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED AT THE TIME OF PRINT Two teams coming off opposite ends of a shutout will face each other tonight as Evgeni Nabokov and the NY Islanders host Reto Berra and the Calgary Flames. Nabokov blanked the Washington caps 1-0 the other night after losing 3 straight following his return from injury.  Hopes for a playoff spot lie on Nabokov's shoulders and he will get eh majority of starts from here on out.  Calgary is still in rebuilding mode but did manage to win 5 in a row before the shutout loss to Montreal.  The Flames are tough to douse but the Isles should be able to....Detroit's Jimmy Howard did not have a particularly good weekend in Washington following his return from injury, but did manage to fill in quite well when Gustavsson had to leave the game early against Vancouver. The two combined for a 2-0 shutout of the Canucks and you have to remember that Howard was playing well before his recent injury.  Tim Thomas and the Florida Panthers are coming off a fine 4-1 effort against the Toronto Maple Leafs but Detroit is getting all their horses back with the return of Pavel Datsyuk. The Red Wings should prevail....The King gets a night off as Cam Talbot will man the pipes for the red-hot NY Rangers. The Rangers have won 4 in a row and 7 of last 9 and will face-off against he bottom feeder of the Western Conference, the Edmonton Oilers.  Ben Scrivens has been the best option for the Oilers since his acquisition but they are still only 2-3 in his starts, the only support he got was in a 3-0 win over San Jose. The team could only muster 1 goal in his other 2 starts.  Scrivens will do his best against a streaking Rangers team that is using their speed to dominant games of late....Two goalies who recently signed contract extensions will face-off against one another tonight as Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche goes against Steve Mason and the Philadelphia Flyers. Mason has played close to his pre-signing level while Varlamov has slipped back a bit.  Philly is coming back from a successful 3 game road trip out West but will face a Colorado team that will look to avenge their lopsided loss to the Rangers the other night.  I'd go with Mason as Varlamov has been inconsistent lately.....Ondrej Pavelec will lead the Winnipeg Jets into Washington to take on Michal Neuvirth and the Washington Capitals. Ever since the coaching change in Winnipeg, Pavelec has turned his game up a notch while the Capitals are looking ...

Claude Giroux (G, 2A) and Scott Hartnell (2A) have re-kindled their chemistry from 2 years ago and the Flyers early season woes can no longer be seen in the rear-view mirror. Philly has played themselves back into playoff contention and it's all because of Giroux and G Steve Mason. Mason has been playing brilliantly for the Flyers since being acquired last season and his recent contract extension signing has not hindered his play at all.  Giroux started the season with just 6 points in 11 October games.  Since November 1st, Giroux has 49 points in 46 games and is tied for 11th in NHL scoring. Hartnell has turned his season around as well with 17 points in last 17 games.  He had a career year in 2011-2012 with 67 points in 82 games playing alongside Giroux.  He is clearly behind that pace for the season, but lately, he is back on track.  Oh, and the Flyers beat the San Jose Sharks last night 5-2 in San Jose.  Mason is now 22-14-5 with a 2.53 GAA and a .916 SP.  Not great but good enough to be the No. 1 in Philly.... More Fantasy Game Notes: Is the early Western Conference dominance over the Eastern Conference fading? Last night Columbus beat Anaheim 4-2 and as mentioned above, Philly beat San Jose.  Both Western teams were so dominant early on in the season, and most recently Anaheim (when they won 18 of 19 during a stretch in December & January), but now are struggling a bit. The Ducks have now lost 3 of their last 4 and 5 of 9.  They lost 4 of those at home, their first regulation losses at home all year.  Not to worry, the Ducks will rebound, but don't expect similar results as earlier when the entire team was red-hot...The Sharks haven't been the same team since the Marleau & Thornton signings; having lost 4 of their last 5. Typical to see two fantasy stars slow down once they sign a big contract.  After playing with motivation and incentive early on, that is taken away from them and they tend to relax.  You can expect a rebound after the Olympics, but not at the pace they were scoring pre-contract....Edmonton won, and that's news in and of itself, but they beat Buffalo, so temper your excitement....New Jersey Devil G Cory Schneider (23/25 SVS) lost the shutout with just under 2 minutes to go and then lost in overtime. Schneider deserved a much better fate, but give credit to the Colorado Avalanche for never giving up.  The Jersey net minder has started 4 in a row and deservedly so.  Even though he only has 1 win in those 4 starts, he clearly could ...