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PHILADELPHIA -- Steve Mason and the Flyers are playing their best hockey of the season heading into the Olympic break. 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. Roy Oswalt Jersey . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Brian McCann Jersey . And thats good news for Canada. Kelly, who plays No. 8 at the back of the scrum, is captain of the Canadian womens team. http://www.astrosteamproshop.com/Astros-Tyler-Clippard-Kids-Jersey/ . -- The Minnesota Twins have granted relief pitcher Matt Guerrier his unconditional release, making the 35-year-old right-hander a free agent. Brad Peacock Jersey . Reimer is winless (0-2-1) since returning from a six-week absence due to concussion-like symptoms. The Maple Leafs dropped a 4-2 decision to the hosting Washington Capitals on Friday. J.R. Richard Jersey . Amid a rain of confetti, Shabazz Napier basked in the celebration on the court after being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four following the 60-54 win over Kentucky.MINSK, Belarus -- Viktor Tikhonov scored twice and Alex Ovechkin added a goal and two assists Monday as Russia routed the United States 6-1 for its third straight victory at the ice hockey world championships. Nikolai Kolyomin opened the scoring for Russia and Alex Ovechkin beat veteran goaltender Tim Thomas with backhand on a penalty shot in the first period for his third goal of the tournament. Ovechkin set up both of Tikhonovs goals in the second, with Yevgeni Kuznetsov and Sergei Plotnikov also scoring for Russia. Justin Abdelkader pulled one back for the U.S. to make it 3-1. Russia leads Group G with nine points from three games, while the U.S. has six. Earlier, France overcame Slovakia 5-3 for another upset victory and host Belarus stunned Switzerland 4-3. France followed up its upset win over Canada in its opening game by coming from 3-1 down to beat Slovakia. Damien Fleury scored the winner on a rebound with 3:41 left in regulation to complete the comeback. Antoine Roussel added his second goal into an empty net for Frances fifth. Baptiste Amar also scored twice for France. "I feel like our team has a lot of character," Roussel said. "We creaated our chances on the power play.dddddddddddd. We were so aggressive and we didnt take so many shots." Ladislav Nagy had two goals for Slovakia, with captain Miroslav Satan also scoring. France has five points from three games in Group A, while Slovakia remained on one. "Were not ready to give it up," Satan said. "The tournament is not over yet." Mikhail Grabovski netted the decisive goal with 2:06 remaining in the final period in Belarus second victory at the worlds to thrill 15,000 home fans at the Minsk Arena. "Im really proud of my boys," Belarus coach Glen Hanlon said. "The huge support that we have from our fans was likely the difference for us." Goals from Yannick Weber, Reto Schappi and Etienne Froidevaux had given Switzerland a 3-2 lead in the third but Belarus equalized through Sergei Kostitsys second goal. It was the third straight loss for Switzerland, last years runner-up. "Its a difficult situation for us right now we have to stay positive and look forward but it wont be easy," Switzerland coach Sean Simpson said. Belarus has six points in Group B while Switzerland is on zero. ' ' '