from Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer,

The Flyers' playoff chances look a lot more precarious than they did a few days ago - and not just because they were manhandled Saturday by Pittsburgh in a critical matchup....

Neuvirth, who is having a career season, will be sidelined for three weeks with a lower body injury, thought to be to his knee. The team does not disclose injuries.

Suddenly, the Flyers' difficult schedule got much more daunting and Steve Mason's workload just got a lot heavier.

"I'm going to do everything I can to give the team as much goaltending as they need," Mason said after an optional practice Sunday in Voorhees. "Obviously this is an extremely crucial point in the season for us - this road trip in particular - and myself, along with everybody, we have to be sharp."

The Flyers, who start a four-game road trip against the Islanders on Monday, are three points behind Detroit, the team they are chasing for the final wild-card spot. They have two games in hand on the Red Wings with 12 games remaining.

Eight of those games will be played on consecutive nights. Perhaps worse, they end the season with four games in five nights.

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