Flyers bounce back and beat Leafs

TORONTO - After their worst third-period home collapse in 23 years, the Flyers were happy to quickly have a chance to redeem themselves Thursday.

And that's just what they did.

Danny Briere scored two goals and backup goalie Brian Boucher was outstanding as the Flyers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1, at the Air Canada Centre.

Briere collected three points, while defenseman Andrej Meszaros added two assists.

Boucher (31 saves) is giving the Flyers' brass a difficult decision on who will be the No. 2 goalie behind Sergei Bobrovsky when Michael Leighton returns from his AHL rehab. The Flyers may go with three goalies for a while.

In addition to Briere, Ville Leino and Chris Pronger scored for the Flyers, who have picked up points in nine of their last 10 games (6-1-3).

Wednesday's 5-4 shoot-out loss to San Jose was the first time since 1987 that the Flyers had lost a regular-season home game after blowing a three-goal, third-period lead.

Playing Thursday suited coach Peter Laviolette.

"Get back to work; that's the best thing you can do," Laviolette said before the game. "We'll get back out there and try to right our wrong. . . . You lose a game like that, and it just leaves a bad taste - and you can utilize that to your advantage."

Boucher made a handful of key early saves - the best was on Colby Armstrong from point-blank range - and Leino (power play) and Pronger scored first-period goals as the Flyers built a 2-0 lead.

Shoddy work on face-offs played a major role in the Flyers' loss Wednesday, but they reversed their fortune in the first period Thursday, winning 71 percent of the draws. Two of those face-off wins - by Mike Richards and Leino - contributed to goals. Richards and Jeff Carter were a combined 8-0 in first-period face-offs.

Leino scored when his shot dribbled off goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere and went between his legs. Giguere had missed the previous two games because of a groin injury and he looked rusty.

"I was saying to Kimmo [Timonen] before the face-off, if we win it, I would come to the flank and shoot right away," Leino said after his second goal in as many nights. "The puck came my way, and I shot it and just tried to get it through. It got through and it got through the goalie, too."

The Flyers were 3 for their last 48 on the power play before Leino's goal.

Pronger notched his fourth goal when his shot from the right point went past a screened Giguere.

"What happened [Wednesday] night was still fresh in our heads," Pronger said.

Less than a minute after Pronger's goal, Braydon Coburn was called for a double-minor (hooking and cross-checking). But the Flyers got standout penalty killing and did not allow Toronto a shot until 3:56 into the four-minute advantage.

Toronto fans booed the Leafs' effort.

They booed some more as the Leafs squandered two more power plays in the second period. Toronto had a total of two shots on their first four power plays.

With 7:42 left in the middle period, Briere scored an easy goal, giving the Flyers a 3-0 lead. Meszaros' shot bounced off the end boards to Briere, who, with no one near him, gathered the puck and tucked it into a mostly empty net.

Toronto got to within 3-1 when Mikhail Grabovski converted a sweet feed from Clarke MacArthur with 3:46 remaining in the second.

Just 1:03 later, Briere answered, scoring his second of the night for his 16th goal, putting him fifth in the NHL.

And so the Flyers took a 4-1 lead - the same score they blew on Wednesday - into the third period.

This time, there was no collapse.