PHILADELPHIA -- Steve Mason and the Flyers are playing their best hockey of the season heading into the Olympic break. Devin McCourty Jersey . Its a break team chariman Ed Snider would love to abolish. Mason stopped 38 shots, and Mark Streit and Michael Raffl scored goals, leading the Philadelphia Flyers past the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Thursday night. Mason blanked Detroit 5-0 on Jan. 28 and stopped the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 on Feb. 1. He was only 2:50 away from his fourth shutout of the season, and third in five games, when Nathan MacKinnon beat him for his 21st goal of the season. Mason stopped his first 33 shots. Mason, who signed a three-year extension last month, has been the key reason the Flyers have been able to hang around in the Eastern Conference playoff race. With one game left before the break, the Flyers recent spurt could stall because of the Olympics. "I hate them," said Snider, the Flyers founder. He added: "Its ridiculous, the whole thing is ridiculous. I dont care if it was in Philadelphia, I wouldnt want to break up the league. I think its ridiculous to take three weeks off, or however long it is, in the middle of the season. It screws up everything. .. How can anybody be happy breaking up their season. No other league does it, why should we? Theres no benefit to us whatsoever. If anything, I can only see negatives." Reminded the Flyers reached the Stanley Cup finals during the last Olympics in 2010, Snider laughed. "Maybe I like them," he said. "I forget about that." Claude Giroux, who scored an empty-netter with 20 seconds left, has plenty of time to rest during the break. He was snubbed Thursday by Hockey Canada when Martin St. Louis was picked as an injury replacement for his Tampa Bay teammate Steven Stamkos. Steve Yzerman, the Canadians executive director and Tampa Bays general manager, chose St. Louis over Giroux and Pittsburghs James Neal. "Its a farce," Snider said. "Hes one of the best players in the game. Its ridiculous. Hes better than half the guys on that team. "Anybody that thinks that Claude Giroux doesnt belong on the Canadian team, they dont know anything about hockey as far as Im concerned. Its politics, to a certain degree. He had to pick his own guy. His own guy is good, but Claude is better." The Avalanche, who lost 5-1 to the New York Rangers on Tuesday, couldnt solve Mason until it was too late. The Avalanche called timeout with 1:27 left and pulled goalie Semyon Varlamov in a last-gasp effort at the tying goal. It didnt work. The Flyers scored in the second period, when Streits shot from the blue line was deflected by a defenceman and wobbled past Varlamov for his eighth goal. Streit is heading to his fourth Olympics for Switzerland. The Flyers got a scare when centre Brayden Schenn was checked from behind into the boards by Patrick Bordeleau. Schenn quickly got on his skates, and his teammates went after Bordeleau behind the net. Bordeleau threw his right elbow into Schenns back and the Flyer thumped the board, and then hit the ice. Bordeleau was hit with 5 minutes for checking from behind and a game misconduct. Colorado coach Patrick Roy was red faced and furious as he argued with the officials that the hit didnt merit an ejection. Masons play picked up after a recent pep talk from Hall of Fame goalie Bernie Parent. Mason stopped 14 shots in the first period and made the save of the night in the second when he robbed Gabriel Landeskog with a glove save from his rear. "I think we didnt make it hard enough for him in the first 55 minutes," Landeskog said. "I think the last five, we were in his face, banging rebounds, and trying to bang one home there and made it hard on him. We started throwing pucks from different angles and tough angles and what not." Mason posted a 1.51 goals-against-average over his last four starts, stopped 95 per cent of his shots and had two shutouts. "The job as starting goalie every night is to make sure we provide stability back there, and thats what Im trying to do," he said. Raffls seventh goal of the season, off a nice pass by Sean Couturier from behind the net, early in the third was the insurance the Flyers needed to win their third straight. NOTES: The Flyers had a video tribute and a moment of silence for former coach and general manager Keith Allen. Allen died Tuesday. He was 90. "I love Keith Allen," Snider said. ... Lauren Hart, the daughter of longtime former Flyers broadcaster Gene Hart, sang "God Bless America," alternating lyrics with Kate Smith, who was on a video image. Smiths rendition of the song has been a rallying anthem for the Flyers since the mid-1970s. James Develin Jersey . A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press the Steelers will part ways with the former Pro Bowler, a move that hardly serves as a surprise after fifth-year linebacker Jason Worilds agreed to accept a "transition player" tag last week. Drew Bledsoe Jersey .com) - The fading Ottawa Senators have a chance to make up some ground in the playoff race on Tuesday night as they play host to the New York Rangers. http://www.shoptheofficialpatriots.com/Elite-Marcus-Cannon-Patriots-Jersey/ . Hoffman, the former star closer, will evaluate and help co-ordinate all pitchers at Double-A, Triple-A and the big league team. Byrnes says Hoffman "will be a key part of finishing the development of our younger pitchers.LOS ANGELES -- Paul Goldschmidt and Miguel Montero homered to help Bronson Arroyo win his third straight start and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3 Sunday, preventing a three-game sweep. Arroyo (7-4) allowed a run and five hits in five innings. Josh Beckett (4-4) was charged with four runs -- three earned -- and five hits through seven innings with six strikeouts and no walks for the Dodgers. Goldschmidt hit his 15th home run in the first inning and Montero hit his 10th in the ninth inning, a two-run shot off Chris Perez. Some absentmindedness by the Dodgers helped the Diamondbacks during a two-run seventh inning that increased the lead to 4-1. Montero ended up with one-out infield single after second baseman Dee Gordon fielded his routine grounder and had neither first baseman Adrian Gonzalez nor Beckett covered the bag. Aaron Hill followed with a single to left field and continued to second as Matt Kemp tried to throw out Montero at third. Gordon then charged Martin Prados slow grounder with the infield playing in -- and ran past the ball as it skidded into short-right-centre. Both runners scored and Prado was credited with one RBI. A fielding error by Arizona shortstop Didi Gregorius on Jamie Romaks leadoff grounder in the seventh gave the Dodgers some life. Lefty Oliver Perez, who came in with a scoreless streak of 11 innings over his previous 13 appearances, walked No.8 hitter Drew Butera before pinch-hitter Justin Turner doubled over the head of left fielder Cody Ross. Butera was hoping to score behind Romak, then slammed on the breaks aftter he was held up by coach Lorenzo Bundy. Rob Gronkowski Jersey. But Gregorius took the relay from Ross and threw to Prado for the tag on Butera before he could scramble back to the bag. Perez then hit Gordon with an 0-2 pitch, but the D-backs escaped the inning still clinging to a 4-2 lead as Evan Marshall struck out Hanley Ramirez and retired Yasiel Puig on a tapper back to the mound. Brad Ziegler escaped the Dodgers eighth unscathed after retiring Romak on a double-play grounder with runners at the corners. The Dodgers tied it in the second when Gonzalez drew a leadoff walk and scored on Romaks groundout. The Diamondbacks regained the lead in the fifth when David Peralta doubled with two out, stole third and sprinted home on Becketts first wild pitch of the season. Ramirez added an RBI double in the ninth for Los Angeles. NOTES: Ziegler has induced 85 double-play grounders since the start of the 2008 season, the most among relievers. ... For the second time in two games, Montero threw out Puig trying to steal second base in the first inning with Gonzalez at bat. Puig has been caught seven times on 14 steal attempts. Montero entered this series having thrown out only six of 39 runners. ... Sixteen of Goldschmidts 79 big league homers have come in the first inning, more than hes hit in any other frame. Goldschmidt has 13 homers, 44 RBIs and a .321 average against Dodgers pitching. The home run and RBI totals are his best against any club. ... 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