Flyers Trip Toronto In OT

As far as Philadelphia Flyers captain Eric Lindros is concerned, the game was never in doubt.

Mark Recchi's goal with 51.5 seconds left in overtime gave the Philadelphia Flyers a 3-2 win Friday over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The goal salvaged a game for the Flyers in which the team lost a two-goal lead late in the third period.

"Even though they came back, we had real good confidence about winning," Lindros explained after Recchi beat Toronto goaltender Glenn Healy wide to the glove side with a slapshot from the left circle after taking a pass from Eric Desjardins from behind the net.

Desjardins, who had a goal and two assists, and, who added a goal and assist, helped the Flyers reman unbeaten at home in their last seven games (6-0-1).

"When you put out all your offensive guys like that, there's a good chance that a goal is going to be scored somewhere," said Philadelphia coach Roger Neilson. "They're tough because Eric and John are so big and Mark is so quick. It's hard for a team to cover them."

Toronto's Mats Sundin and Sergie Berezin scored goals within a span of 2:12 late in the third period to send the game into overtime.

Sundin scored his ninth goal of the season on the power play with 2:24 left, converting a slapshot from the point on a give-and-go with Steve Thomas.

Then with 11.1 seconds left in regulation, Berezin poked in a rebound for his ninth goal after Philadelphia goaltender Brian Boucher kicked out an initial shot by Dmitry Yushkevich.

"We had our shots to put them away, but it just didn't fall our way" said Sundin. "We've been having problems scoring lately. We figured it would be a tight game. We came back but couldn't finish them off."

Boucher, a rookie who has won four straight starts, made 20 saves as both teams went with backup goaltenders.

"We didn't get the job done in the last two minutes, but we got a real big goal by Recchi," said Lindros, who has scored five goals in his last three games. "Toronto is one of the top teams in the league. It feels nice to beat a team like that."

Healy stopped 18 shots as the Maple Leafs dropped their second consecutive game. Toronto has won only twice in its last 10 games (2-6-2).

Lindros, who has scored five goals in his last three games, put the Flyers ahead 1-0 at 5:23 of the first period. LeClair, who had two assists, dug the puck out from behind the net and Lindros swatted it past Healy's stick side.

Desjardins, who has eight points in his last three games, made it 2-0 on a power-play goal with a two-man advantage at 15:57 of the second. He scored on a slap shot from top of the point.

Philadelphia went into the game with the best power-play percentage in the NHL (25.3 percent) and leads the league with 25 power-play goals.

Boucher, who has stopped 73 of 80 shots during his four-game unbeaten string, made a number of difficult saves in the tight-checking, defensive struggle.

Philadelphia is 13-3-2 since opening the season by going winless in its first six (0-5-1), the poorest start in the franchise's history.

It was the first meeting between the two teams since May 2, when Toronto won 1-0 and eliminated the Flyers in Game 6 of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Lindros missed that series with a collapsed lung.

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