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Lupul helps Flyers topple Leafs

Dec 28, 2007 - 4:21 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Joffrey Lupul continues to endear himself to the Philadelphia Flyers' faithful.

Lupul scored two goals as the Flyers snapped a season-high six-game winless streak with a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

"A six-game streak was not the way you wanted to go into the Christmas break," Lupul said. "We had a couple of days to think about it, and everyone showed up ready to play."

With the Flyers leading 1-0 and on the power play, Lupul doubled the advantage with 2:38 remaining in the second period.

The Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta native had the puck just inside the blue line and fed Daniel Briere in the corner. Briere returned the favor to Lupul in the slot and the 24-year-old beat netminder Andrew Raycroft between the pads to give Philadelphia a 2-0 lead.

"I'm getting a lot of time on the power play and that's is something that I'm proud of," said Lupul, who scored his seventh goal with the man advantage of the season. "Last year, I knew that I could score goals. I take more pride in being a complete player rather than being a guy on a hot streak scoring a bunch of goals."

Mats Sundin halved the deficit with 27 seconds remaining in the period.

"It was another goal that we gave up late in the period, which is something we were trying to avoid," Flyers coach John Stevens said. "You have Sundin shooting the puck and he has a world class shot."

With Toronto on the power play, the team captain blasted a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle past Martin Biron for his 17th goal of the season.

"We haven't had the goal scoring that we've had at the start of the season," Sundin said. "If were going to be a playoff team, we have to play better than we did on this trip. We have to play defensively and we have to start producing on the offense as well."

That was the only blemish for Biron, who had 34 saves.

"I thought that we played well defensively," Biron said. "When you are able to focus on the shot and make the first save, it makes for a more sound game. I was focused on the shot and was not worrying about what was behind me."

After Briere deflected Jason Smith's shot past Raycroft to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead three minutes into the third period, Lupul struck again nearly five minutes later for his 15th goal of the season.

"I just keep playing hard," Lupul said. "It's a product of me and my linemates working hard. If I keep getting chances, I know that I can score."

Lupul accepted a feed from Mike Richards in the left faceoff circle and wristed the puck across his body and over the glove of Raycroft.

"When the puck pops out like that it is just instinct," Lupul said. "It's a better play than me burying me head and firing at the goalie. That goal is easier to make when you are on a scoring steak."

Richards' assist extended his point streak at home to 16 games, tying a team record set by Bobby Clarke.

"We did a lot of great things tonight," Richards said. "We took care of our own zone first and everything after that, we did well. As a team, it was a good game for us."

Jeff Carter opened the scoring with 35 seconds remaining in the first period.

Scott Hartnell chased down the loose puck in the corner and fired a pass toward the goal mouth which Carter deflected past Raycroft for his fourth goal in his last three games.

Playing in place of Vesa Toskala, who has missed the last two games with a groin injury, Raycroft finished with 30 saves.