One second he's crouched over in his crease looking at a neutral-zone faceoff and then the next second, he's flat on his back, fully outstretched on the ice.
A bizarre day of hockey ended Saturday night for the Flyers with a 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils and their two goalies ill (see Instant Replay).
The Flyers are still six points out of the wild card, but Boston reduced the Flyers' tragic number for elimination to just two points with its win Saturday.
Several players and even general manager Ron Hextall acknowledged some colds and flu bugs have been going around in the locker room.
It could be why Michal Neuvirth collapsed about eight minutes into the game and why Mason became ill earlier in the day, resulting in the Flyers having to recall Anthony Stolarz from Lehigh Valley.
"You've seen things like that in a game," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "But in that particular instance, I don't know what another word than shocking at that time. I give credit to all the medical people. They were right on top of it and did an outstanding job."
Stolarz, who wasn't even on the bench at the start of the game, came in relief and finished with 26 saves, earning a shared shutout but didn't get the win because Neuvirth was the goalie of record, leading 1-0 at the time of his exit.
"There was a lot going on in this hockey game tonight," Hakstol said, "but I liked the way our guys handled everything and stayed with it."
NHL
Brayden Schenn's 17th power-play goal of the season -- tying him for the NHL lead -- at 7:28 of the opening period gave the Flyers a rare 1-0 lead.
Then came the neutral zone faceoff followed by Neuvirth collapsing on the ice (see story).
"It was definitely scary right off the bat there," said Jordan Weal, who was on the ice when the event occurred. "It's good to see he's feeling. There's a bug going through the team right now. It could have had something to do with that. Sometimes those colds dehydrate you."
Players were told as the game progressed that Neuvirth was OK.
"I think there is a flu around and has been here most of the season," Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said.
When play resumed with Stolarz in goal, the Flyers got a rush up the ice, culminating with Colin McDonald's first goal for the Flyers this season to make it, 2-0.
"The next three or four shifts were a little off," Bellemare said. "Then somehow we got back on track."
McDonald, who now has two career goals as a Flyer, was called up from the Phantoms on Saturday morning to replace Matt Read, who is done for the season with a broken right arm.
Stolarz faced some pretty good shots immediately, including during a Devils power play -- and finished with four saves that period.
You'd never have guessed he had no warmups here.
"I was on the bus to Wilkes-Barre -- I want to say around 4:15, so I had to wait for the bus to get to Wilkes-Barre, unpack my gear for the car to come down," Stolarz said. "I didn't get in until 6:55."
Stolarz could have only won the game had he given up a goal -- that's ironic, too.
"Going in, I kind of knew that," he said. "We had a scenario like that a few weeks ago with the Phantoms. I'm familiar with the rule. When it's all set and done, I'm fine with Neuvy getting the win."
Stolarz played well being very cold, too.
"You kind of get used to it as a goalie," Stolarz said. "You don't take too many warmup shots at the backup, anyway. Then you kind of sit around for a while. You kind of get cold so it didn't make too much of a difference."
The game disintegrated near the eight-minute mark of the second period when Devils defenseman Dalton Prout blind-sided Radko Gudas with a head shot. Gudas had to be taken off the ice while Wayne Simmonds fought Prout, who was ejected.
Gudas later returned in the second period but then did not return for the third period.
Following the timeout, Hakstol put Dale Weise on the ice. He went tearing up the right boards and threw a shoulder-high elbow into Kyle Palmieri after the puck was gone and after Jakub Voracek had already checked the Devils' forward. Palmieri struck the stanchion.
Naturally, Weise was thrown out of the game, too, for boarding. Both Prout and Weise are likely facing suspensions.
Before the period ended, Jordan Weal scored his fourth goal in as many games on the power play for a 3-0 Flyers lead.
With 25 seconds left, Hakstol attempted to insert his emergency backup, Eric Semborski, and he even got in the net before the officials made him leave the ice.
Why? He wasn't a roster player and was only available if Stolarz got hurt.
"I was thinking of using him around the two or three-minute mark," Hakstol said. "At that point, it was do it or don't. But we couldn’t do it. It turned out for the best we got him out of there before the drop of the puck."
The Flyers would have been penalized.
"I didn't check the rules," Hakstol said. "He got out on the ice for a second, anyway."
Hextall, watching from above, was amused at Hakstol even attempting such.
"I was shocked," Hextall said with a laugh.