Flyers trade Forsberg, lose to Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs could tell the Peter Forsberg trade distracted the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers traded their captain before the game and then lost, 4-2, to Toronto on Thursday night at Philadelphia.

Mats Sundin had a goal and an assist to help the Maple Leafs break a three-game losing streak.

Forsberg was pulled from the ice during warmups and traded to the Nashville Predators for right wing Scottie Upshall, defenseman Ryan Parent and two draft picks.

The Maple Leafs scored three goals in the first period and chased Philadelphia goaltender Michael Leighton, who had won his previous two starts.

“It’s very difficult to have your guy leave the ice and be traded,” Toronto Coach Paul Maurice said. “It’s tough and I thought they did a great job of kind of battling back after the first and regrouping as a team to come out and play real hard.”

Forsberg, 33, in the final months of a two-year, $11.5-million contract, had 11 goals and 29 assists in 40 games for the Flyers this season, his second with Philadelphia after 10 years with Quebec and Colorado.

The Predators are 39-16-2-1 for 81 points, five points ahead of the Ducks in the conference standings.

“It’s not a fun day, even though I’m going to a good team,” Forsberg said. “I’m sure I’m going to be OK in a couple of days, but today is not a good day. I didn’t sign here two years ago to stand here today.”

Colorado 7, Calgary 5 -- Joe Sakic scored twice, including his 600th career goal, and added three assists to lead the Avalanche past the Flames at Calgary, Canada.

Sakic reached the 600-goal mark by scoring into an empty net, becoming the 17th player in NHL history to get there. Brendan Shanahan and Jaromir Jagr also reached 600 with the Rangers earlier this season.

Milan Hejduk had three goals for the Avalanche, which has won two in a row.

Buffalo 2, Edmonton 1 -- Daniel Briere scored 62 seconds into overtime to lift the Sabres to their sixth consecutive victory at home, the team’s longest such streak since winning seven in a row early in 1999-2000.

New York Rangers 4, Carolina 1 -- Karel Rachunek and Michael Nylander each had a goal and an assist at Raleigh, N.C., and the Rangers won their third in a row.

New York Islanders 4, Boston 1 -- Mike Sillinger scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period to lift the Islanders at Uniondale, N.Y. The win moved New York into a three-way tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference -- one point behind Carolina.

Tampa Bay 3, Washington 2 -- Vincent Lecavalier scored two goals and Martin St. Louis had the lone shootout goal for the Lightning at Tampa, Fla. Tampa Bay has won 14 of 17 and is one point behind the Southeast Division-leading Atlanta Thrashers.