While Blue Jackets rookie goalie Steve Mason was overlooked as one of the reserve netminders for the Western Conference in this month's All-Star Game in Montreal when they were announced Wednesday, he was selected to participate in the league's YoungStars game on Friday.However, that wasn't the foremost on his mind before facing the potent Capitals lineup tonight, as he was bothered by upper-body spasms and nearly missed his scheduled start against the Washington team he blanked at Nationwide Arena back in November.
No matter the ailment, though, as Mason indeed made his start and simply shut out the Caps for the second time this season, turning away 45 Washington shots for his league-leading sixth shutout of the season, meaning a quarter of the rookie's first 24 NHL starts have resulted in a perfect performance. He stopped all 18 Caps shots in the first when Columbus was outshot by a 14-shot margin, but got a lead thanks to R.J. Umberger.
While Mason afterwards was humble in talking about his performance, crediting his defensemen and saying the win was more important than the shutout, his teammates were a bit more blunt what they thought of their 20-year-old netminder.
"Forget the YoungStars. He's an All-Star!" yelled one teammate while reporters were interviewing the goalie.
"[Expletive] the YoungStars!"
It's understandable why his teammates feel so strongly about Mason's importance to the Jackets and his All-Star credentials. With his win, he lowered his goals-against average to an NHL-best 1.74, and lifting his save percentage to a league-best .938. But with Ducks goalie J.S. Giguere voted in by fans, and Niklas Backstrom and Roberto Luongo among the goaltenders vying for the two open spots, the NHL brass felt there wasn't room on the roster for him. But Mason certainly showed he was capable of stopping some of the league's best shooters on the league's hottest club.
He stopped 12 shots alone from Alexander Ovechkin, some in spectacular fashion as the reigning MVP fired shot after shot with no success, trying to generate chances with no success. Overall, he faced 71 Capitals shots this season, and turned them all away.
As for his success against the Caps this year, he simply said "we couldn't be intimidated by them."
He certainly showed he wasn't, being just the second goaltender to hand the Caps a regulation loss at Verizon Center this year, the first to record a shutout against the Caps at home, and his second straight shutout against Washington in this season. Columbus also becomes the first team to beat Washington twice in regulation this season, ending the Caps' 10-game win streak on home ice and seven-game streak overall, and ends their own season-high six-game road trip with a 4-2-0 record and lifting their record against the East to a very impressive 7-1-1 mark.
Mason's strength is his 6-foot-4 frame which takes up most of the cage, and when his size doesn't force an opponent to shoot wide or hit the post, as the Caps did on numerous occasions, but he also has the reflexes to give a shooter space and then quickly take it away. His quick reflexes left the Caps frustrated all night long, as they poured 18 shots on him in the third period to try and break the goalie's 100-minute-plus shutout streak against them, but they simply got more perplexed and upset as the period wore on.
Mason won the NHL's rookie of the month award in both November and December, and he's making a strong bid to take his third in a row with a 2.01 GAA in four games in January. He's also getting quite a lead in the race for this year's Calder Trophy.
WIth his success, Mason certainly showed why he's deserving of an All-Star spot, as he left one of the league's toughest offenses just shaking their heads. And, with reports coming out of Vancouver that Roberto Luongo may not be ready to play in the All-Star Game in two weeks, perhaps he may get a chance to show his skill in front of a national stage with the true All-Stars instead of simply being relegated to Saturday night's YoungStars appetizer.
