Craig Berube met with the press about an hour before Game 3 of the Flyers-Rangers playoff series.

This is the conversation:

Since Steve Mason is the backup tonight, does that mean he is totally healthy?

“Yes.”

Why?

“Ray (Emery) won Game 2. Ray's played well. (Mason) is healthy. So we made a decision after practice. He's going to back-up tonight.”

Was it a difficult decision?

“No, I don't think. It was the decision I made.”

Does that mean you are game-to-game at this point? If Emery keeps winning, will he keep starting?

That's it. He's playing tonight.”

Did Mason not play well enough down the stretch to get his job back?

“That has nothing to do with it. He was injured. And he's better. So he's going to back up tonight.”

Mason said Monday he wasn't going to be ready. What changed?

“He's ready. And he feels like he wants to get in there and be the backup. So we talked and made the decision, and he's going to back up tonight.”

Did he have to get medical clearance?

“Yeah.”

Did he have to take a baseline test?

“No. I don't know anything about that.”

How much of this was Mason's call to get back in?

“It's always part of the players' call.”

More this time than usual?

“No. I think that we sit down and discuss it with the player.”   

“After practice, I talked to the media, went back in there, sat down with Mase and Razor. We all thought it was a good idea.”

Have anything to do with practice time?

“(Mason) has practiced. I know he was out there yesterday. There was a bunch of guys out there. He had some good practice time yesterday. He had some good practice time in New York, too.”

You’re comfortable with Mason, if something happened to Emery?

“Yeah. That’s why he’s backing up. I would never do that to a player.”

Switching gears, is Steve Downie ruled out for whole series?

“You’ll have to talk to Paul Holmgren about that.”

Difficult decision for head coach, in regard to goaltenders?

“What do you mean, difficult? I don’t think it’s difficult at all. I think Ray’s played well. Ray just came off a big win. It’s not a difficult decision.”

Downie sits out last two games of regular season. Was he being benched, ill, etc?

“A little bit of both. He made those mistakes and, obviously, I was not happy. There’s other things, so…”

Problems that led to his blanking out on the ice?

“Is that what happened?”

Well, being absent-minded on coverages. Maybe medical issues…

“I don’t know. I’m not going to go there.”