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.

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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.
