from Mike Sielski of the Philadelphia Inquirer,

The Flyers lost, 4-1, on Saturday night to the Capitals, and they trail this first-round series, two games to none. But those basic facts will eventually fade from memory, and Mason's momentary abdication of all his puck-stopping skills will live forever on blooper montages; on YouTube playlists; and, if Mason's not careful, in his own guilty conscience.

"You just have to have a short memory," Mason said. "It sucked. It's a crappy feeling. I just completely messed up on it. It should have been a simple play for me. I messed up."

To blink was to miss it and wonder what had happened. To see it was to wonder how it had. Less than 21/2 minutes into the second period, his team holding a 1-0 lead, Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner cleared the puck up the left-wing boards. Standing at the red line, forward Jason Chimera tipped it, and the puck skidded 101 feet toward the Flyers' net. Just seconds earlier, Mason had made consecutive spectacular saves, splitting his legs Nureyev-style to get his left pad on a shot by John Carlson, then kicking away a one-timer from the left circle by Alzner.

But this time, with the puck wobbling toward him like a shuffleboard disk pushed by a senior citizen, something went wrong. Mason said that he wanted to use his stick to swipe the puck into the left corner. Instead, he sat deep in his net, made an awkward movement, and handed the best team in the NHL this season a goal it didn't deserve.

"It wasn't good," he said. "My fault, obviously. I put the team in a tough position after that. Just a bad goal."

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Watch Mason talk abou the goal below and see the goal too...