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Briere helps Flyers top Leafs in Toronto

Dec 10, 2010 - 7:35 AM Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Danny Briere registered two goals and an assist to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre.

Ville Leino and Chris Pronger also scored for the Flyers, who bounced back nicely one night after they blew a three-goal lead in the third period during Wednesday's 5-4 shootout loss to San Jose. Andrej Meszaros posted two assists for Philadelphia, which is now 3-1-1 in the month of December.

Brian Boucher made 31 saves in the victory.

"I thought that he completely controlled the game out there," said Flyers head coach Peter Laviotlette when describing his goaltender. "He was probably the best player on the ice. The way he handled the puck, the rebounds, he was in complete control."

Mikhail Grabovski's goal in the second period accounted for Toronto's only offense. The Maple Leafs have dropped two straight and fell to 2-5-1 in their last eight games overall.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere allowed four goals on 28 shots for Toronto.

Only 79 seconds after Leino opened the scoring at the 11:13 mark of the first period with a power-play goal, Pronger's fourth goal of the season gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead. Pronger wound up from the right point and blasted a slap shot past Giguere.

Both the third and fourth Philadelphia goals featured a Meszaros-Briere connection.

First, at 12:18 of the middle session, Meszaros's shot from the right point missed the net wide before it caromed off the rear boards and into the left crease area, where Briere was all alone, gained control and tucked it home.

Briere's second tally of the night and 16th of the season made it 4-1 with 2:43 remaining before the second intermission. Meszaros carried the puck into the slot on a broken play and passed over to Briere, whose low backhander from near the left post lit the lamp.

"You look back on the game and if we made a mistake it ended up in the net," stated Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson. "We weren't able to finish the 2- on-1 opportunities and the scrambles in front of the net."

Game Notes

The Flyers were 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Leafs finished scoreless on their four chances with the extra skater...Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf returned the lineup -- he had been out since early November with a left leg laceration...The Flyers have won four straight and six of their last seven games against the Leafs...Meszaros now has 10 assists in 2010-11.