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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. Air Force 1 Cheap Wholesale . Jonathan Crompton led the team to a 40-9 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Crompton threw three touchdown passes - two to Duron Carter and one to Brandon London - and Sean Whyte connected on four field goals to power the Alouettes to the win. Nike Vapormax Wholesale . But qualifying for her first Scotties Tournament of Hearts after years of falling short in tough Manitoba provincial championships is as good as consolation prizes get for the 29-year-old from Winnipegs Fort Rouge Curling Club. http://www.outletsneakersclearance.com/f...r-vapormax.html. Raonic, the No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., fired 11 aces and did not have a double-fault as he comfortably advanced to the third round at the Masters Series event. Discount Sneakers Online . As Valanciunas was whistled for a rare technical toward the end of the third quarter - a result of waving his hand at an official after being called for a foul - Lowry pulled the Raptors sophomore aside, corralling him by his jersey and patting him on the back. Air Max 97 Outlet Clearance . The first of the three games will be played in Week 4, when the Oakland Raiders will take on the Miami Dolphins on Sept.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Slugger Jose Abreu, All-Star left-hander Chris Sale and closer Matt Lindstrom are on the disabled list. But the Chicago White Sox are still finding ways to win. Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer and the White Sox defeated the Kansas City Royals 7-6 on Tuesday night. "Any time you can expand a lead I think that those are a lot more meaningful," Dunn said. The White Sox needed those extra runs as the Royals answered with three in the eighth and one in the ninth. "Six runs were not enough," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "The eighth inning put a damper on it. We were trying to keep the score at two runs. "This is a club you go up and down their lineup, you make a mistake and those guys are going to hit it a long way. I guess you call it we caught a break, but it hasnt helped us any missing (Jose) Abreu. Hes got a ton of power, too." Abreu leads the majors with 15 homers, but Dunn and Paul Konerko have hit three-run homers in the first two games of this series. "Obviously, hes really good," Dunn said of Abreu. "I think Paul and I hopefully can put some runs on the board." The White Sox out-homered the Royals 5-0 in winning the first two games of this series. "Theyve got a lot of power," Royals designated hitter Billy Butler said. "They live and die by the long ball. They hit a lot of home runs and when they dont, they usually lose." Andre Rienzo (4-0) limited the Royals to two runs and five hits over six innings. He struck out a career-high eight. "He had some really good stuff today," Dunn said. "Hes kept us in pretty much every ball game. ... When he has three or four pitches working like he did tonight, hes tough." Ronald Belisario gave up a run in the ninth, he stranded the tying run at second base to pick up his first save of the season. The Royals record dropped to 5-15 against American League Central opponents. Gordon Beckham and Conor Gillaspie, who each had three hits, singled before Dunn homered in the eighth off right-hander Aaron Crow, who had allowed two three-run homers in hhis past two appearances.dddddddddddd. Beckham has hit safely in 13 of his past 15 games, while Gillaspie increased his average to .347. Royals rookie right-hander Yordano Ventura (2-4) took the loss, allowing four runs and seven hits, including a Tyler Flowers home run, in six innings. Ventura threw three wild pitches in the White Sox three-run fifth, the last one allowing Beckham to score. Danny Valencia doubled home Butler and Alex Gordon with the first two Kansas City runs in the second. White Sox relievers Scott Downs and Frank Francisco combined to retire only one of the six batters they faced in the eighth as the Royals scored three runs. Gordon and Cain had RBIs, while Cain scored on a Francisco wild pitch. Zach Putnam restored order by retiring pinch hitter Mike Moustakas on an infield popup and Nori Aoki on a ground ball that shortstop Alexei Ramirez made a diving stop with runners on the corners. Belisario, who threw 21 pitches in two innings Monday, allowed a two-out single to Gordon, scoring Butler, who had doubled. Jarrod Dyson ran for Gordon and stole second. Belisario struck out Cain on three pitches to end the game. "Its the same," Belisario said of setting up or closing. "Its the same going in. I do my job. I feel the same." Notes: Sale felt fine after a bullpen session Tuesday and could come off the disabled list this weekend to start against the New York Yankees. ... Royals All-Star C Salvador Perez is sidelined with inflammation in his right thumb. The Royals are hopeful Perez could return Saturday, avoiding a trip to the disabled list. They did recall C Francisco Pena, the son of Yankees bench coach and former Royals manager Tony Pena, from Triple-A Omaha. Pena made his major league debut, catching in the ninth. ... The Royals optioned IF Johnny Giavotella to Omaha. ... Lindstrom, who injured his left ankle trying to field a bunt in the ninth inning, was placed on the 15-day disabled list. The White Sox purchased the contract of RHP Javy Guerra, who had 21 saves for the Dodgers as a rookie in 2011, from Triple-A Charlotte. ' ' '