Leafs come back to life as Avalanche falls on Sharks

Robert Esche, left, of the Flyers, as Robert Reichel, right, of the Maple Leafs celebrates just after teammate Darcy Tucker scored in Toronto, Ontario, Wednesday. PHOTO: AFP

Alexander Mogilny scored on a breakaway to spark a three-goal, second-period outburst in helping the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-1 playoff win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night.

"Here's a man that I've watched for a long time, and he's capable of a lot of things," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "He can do most things in this game and do them well, including play physical. I have a lot of respect for him as an individual, as a team player and as a guy that leads."

Alexei Ponikarovsky, Chad Kilger and Darcy Tucker also scored for Toronto, which cut the Flyers' lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven, second-round playoff series.

"The first goal is definitely important, but it's nice for Alex to get a goal and play the way he did tonight," Maple Leafs defenseman Bryan Marchment said. "He was a force out there."

Game 4 is Friday at Toronto, where the Leafs have won four straight in the playoffs.

Tony Amonte scored a power-play goal for the Flyers, who lost for only the second time in the postseason after needing only five games to eliminate New Jersey in the first round.

Philadelphia failed to score the first goal for the first time in this postseason.

Avalanche 1, Sharks 0, OT

In Denver, Joe Sakic and David Aebischer combined to beat San Jose, keeping Colorado's playoff hopes alive. Sakic flipped a wrist shot past Evgeni Nabokov 5:15 into overtime and Aebischer stopped 27 shots for his first playoff shutout, helping the Avalanche avoid a sweep with a victory over San Jose in Game 4.

Sakic ended Colorado's scoreless streak against Nabokov at 178 minutes, 14 seconds.

The Avalanche still have hope that they can become the third NHL team to rally from a 3-0 deficit and win a series, but it won't be easy. Game 5 is Saturday in San Jose where the Sharks won the first two games by a combined score of 9-3.