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Maple Leafs edge Flyers

Feb 26, 2013 - 4:49 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Mikhail Grabovski scored the eventual deciding goal in the third period as the Toronto Maple Leafs posted a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.

Phil Kessel and Nikolai Kulemin also lit the lamp for Toronto, with Jay McClement adding an empty-net tally to help back a 23-save effort from Ben Scrivens.

"You have to give our guys credit," said Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle. "They battled and went toe-to-toe with a pretty good hockey team over there."

Philadelphia's Jakub Voracek continued his recent hot streak by recording a goal and an assist, while Scott Hartnell netted his first marker of the season in the loss. Claude Giroux assisted on both Flyers' scores.

Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 18-of-21 shots in Philadelphia's second defeat at the hands of the Leafs this month, with Toronto registering a 5-2 home triumph in a Feb. 11 meeting.

"We need to learn to play 60 minutes a game, and that hurt us again tonight," said Giroux. "It's the same story. We need to play as a team and get four lines rolling and play a good 60 [minutes]."

Scrivens was sharp right from the start, coming up with seven saves over the game's first six minutes and later stoning Wayne Simmonds on a breakaway attempt coming out of the penalty box near the midway mark of the opening period. The rookie would get some breathing room near the end of the frame courtesy of Kessel, who blew past Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen after collecting a no-look pass from Tyler Bozak off the right boards and firing the puck through Bryzgalov's legs 2:40 prior to the first intermission.

Kulemin made it a 2-0 score with just under five minutes remaining in the second period. With the Flyers caught in a line change, the Russian found the back of the net on a backhander off Nazem Kadri's cross-ice feed for his first goal in 13 games.

Philadelphia answered less than three minutes after, however. Voracek skated up the right wing before hitting Hartnell for a wrister that the veteran wing lifted over Scrivens' shoulder to cut Toronto's lead in half.

Giroux nearly tied it just over 7 1/2 minutes into the final session with a backhander that bounced off the top of the crossbar, but it was the Maple Leafs that cashed in on the resulting rush. Bryzgalov turned aside Clarke MacArthur's initial attempt, but Grabovski put home the rebound for a 3-1 advantage with 12:08 to play.

Philadelphia capitalized on a power-play chance shortly afterward to pull back within one. With ex-Flyer James van Riemsdyk in the box, Voracek -- named the NHL's First Star of the Week on Monday -- ripped a shot that beat a screened Scrivens stick-side with 8:18 remaining.

Scrivens withstood a frantic push from Philadelphia in the final stages, however, before McClement sealed the win by flicking the puck into the vacated net with just 13 seconds on the clock.

Game Notes

Van Riemsdyk made his first appearance at the Wells Fargo Center in a visiting uniform. The former No. 2 overall pick spent his first three seasons with the Flyers before being traded to Toronto in June for defenseman Luke Schenn ... Kadri and Carl Gunnarsson each had two assists for the Maple Leafs ... Voracek was named the NHL's First Star for games played from Feb. 18-24 after amassing a league-best 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists) over a four-outing stretch ... Giroux now has three goals and seven assists over a five-game point streak ... The Flyers fell to 1-11-0 this season when trailing or tied after two periods, with Saturday's 5-3 decision over Winnipeg the lone positive result ... Philadelphia defenseman Bruno Gervais skated in his 400th career NHL game.