Maple Leafs Fight Off Flyers

Philadelphia Coach Roger Neilson drew a rousing response from the fans in Toronto--and the wrath of Toronto Coach Pat Quinn.

Garry Valk scored two goals and the Maple Leafs moved into first place in the Eastern Conference with a 6-4 victory over the Flyers Saturday night.

The game featured a 12-player brawl in the second period that led to three game misconducts and 96 minutes in penalties. The fights overshadowed a tribute to Nielson, who was coaching his first game since announcing he has bone cancer.

“Are we playing hockey or playing that ‘70s scrum [stuff] that we’ve already been through?” said Quinn. “I thought that was a bygone era. When their five guys start throwing punches at your five guys, something’s wrong. [Neilson] thinks he’s still coaching in the ‘70s.”

Valk’s two goals sandwiched another by Sergei Berezin in a 1:43 span early in the second period to break a 2-2 tie.

Philadelphia goalie John Vanbiesbrouck stopped just 13 of 18 shots and was replaced by Brian Boucher at 5:44 of the second period.

Flyer captain Eric Lindros tried to spark his team by getting into a fight with Toronto defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev.

The main event broke out nine seconds later as all the players on the ice, including goalies Curtis Joseph and Boucher, got into it. Sandy McCarthy pummeled Dmitri Khristich, and Craig Berube fought with another Maple Leaf player.

Toronto enforcer Tie Domi, who had earlier rebuffed challenges from McCarthy and Berube, got involved as the third man in a scuffle between teammate Tomas Kaberle and Philadelphia’s Adam Burt.

Detroit 5, Boston 4--Vyacheslav Kozlov scored two goals, and Steve Yzerman scored for the fifth consecutive game as the Red Wings won at Boston.

With the score tied 3-3, Steve Duchesne scored the go-ahead goal at 9:38 of the third period, when his slap shot beat Bruin goalie Byron Dafoe.

Pittsburgh 4, Phoenix 2--Kip Miller ended a 24-game goal drought with the go-ahead score in the Penguins’ victory over the Coyotes at Pittsburgh.

Jaromir Jagr had two goals and an assist to raise his NHL-leading point total to 46 as Pittsburgh won its second under Coach Herb Brooks.

Florida 4, Nashville 2--Mark Parrish scored the eventual winning goal 2:33 into the third period, and Oleg Kvasha added two assists for the Panthers at Nashville, Tenn.

Pavel Bure added an empty-net goal at 19:51 for the Southeast Division-leading Panthers, who have won three of their last four.

Edmonton 3, New Jersey 1--Boyd Devereaux had a goal and an assist in a three-goal first period at East Rutherford, N.J., that led the Oilers to only their second road victory in 16 games.

Ethan Moreau and Josef Beranek also scored in the 7:39 span against Martin Brodeur, and goalie Bill Ranford made them stand, stopping 29 shots in ending the Oilers’ six-game winless streak.

New York Islanders 1, Ottawa 1--Magnus Arvedson scored with 5:19 remaining to lift the Senators to a tie with the Islanders at Kanata, Canada.

The tie ended a five-game losing streak for the Islanders, who are still winless in their last 15 against Ottawa (0-11-4), dating to Jan. 6, 1996.

St.Louis 4, Dallas 2--Jamal Mayers and Craig Conroy scored 30 seconds apart in the third period to give the Blues the victory at St. Louis.

Scott Young also scored in the third period for St. Louis to extend his scoring streak to four.