Flyers goalie Michal Neuvirth will miss three weeks because of a lower-body injury, general manager Ron Hextall announced Sunday morning. His regular season is likely over.
A league source confirmed to CSNPhilly.com Neuvirth suffered a left knee injury before the Flyers' game Saturday against the Penguins. Neuvirth will have an MRI on Monday.
Fox29's Howard Eskin first reported it was a knee injury.
Neuvirth was slated to start against Pittsburgh, but was scratched beforehand because he "wasn't feeling right." Steve Mason said after the game he learned 20 minutes before warmups he was starting against the Penguins. The Flyers lost, 4-1 (see game story).
The 27-year-old, who signed a two-year contract with the Flyers last summer, is 17-8-4 with a 2.28 goals-against average, .925 save percentage and three shutouts.
With Neuvirth out, the Flyers called up Anthony Stolarz from the Phantoms. Lehigh Valley recalled Martin Ouellette from the Reading Royals to take Stolarz's roster spot.
It's the fourth call-up this season for Stolarz, who came up on emergency conditions last weekend when Neuvirth was battling a stomach virus. He has yet to see any game action.
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The Flyers have 12 games left on the schedule with four back-to-backs, so Stolarz could make his NHL debut some time before the season ends, but it'll be Mason's net.
Mason, 27, has had an up-and-down season but has largely played better over the last three months. While he's 17-16-8 with a 2.62 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage, his save percentage is .929 at even strength. He'll get the brunt of the workload going forward.
On Monday night, the Flyers embark on a four-game road trip beginning in Brooklyn against the Islanders, who own the Eastern Conference's first wild-card spot. They are three points behind the Red Wings for the final wild-card spot, with two games in hand on Detroit.