The Toronto Maple Leafs showed plenty of fight in the City of Brotherly Love on Wednesday night.

But it was their ineffectiveness with the gloves on that cost them a big two points against Philadelphia, which began the game alongside the Leafs in the bottom half of the NHL Eastern Conference standings.

The Flyers scored three power-play goals against the league's 30th-ranked penalty-kill in a 6-2 victory, just their second in a month at the Wachovia Center.

If Toronto wasn't occupying the penalty box, it was turning over the puck — seven giveaways in the first period alone — mounting little offence (the Flyers blocked 23 shots) or getting trapped in the defensive zone by a strong Philadelphia forecheck.

Asked if his team was tired after playing the night before, Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson said, "I'm sure they'll say that, but it's no excuse. We had a few guys who didn't compete at the level we need."

With the Leafs fresh off a 3-2 victory over visiting Florida the previous night and still trying to find their legs, Flyers forward Daniel Briere showed off his hands.

After Jeff Carter passed the puck by three Toronto penalty killers, Briere ripped a shot past goalie Jonas Gustavsson for a power-play goal, his first of two goals on the night and 499th NHL point, with Alexei Ponikarovsky serving a high-sticking minor.

"I don't have any explanation," said Briere, who has 30 points in 29 career games against Toronto. "There's always a few teams you feel more comfortable, more confident and things seem to be bouncing your way and the puck seems to be finding you."

2-goal deficit

It was also the 31st time Toronto has allowed the first goal this season.

The Maple Leafs fell behind 2-0 for the 22nd time 44 starts when a Jason Blake turnover led to Danny Syvret's second goal of the season, a blast over Gustavsson's shoulder.

Gustavsson, the first star in a 29-save performance against Florida, made a couple of big saves, including a right-toe save on Philadelphia's Darroll Powe to keep it a 2-0 game.

But the Swedish rookie received little help from his defence midway through the second period when checking forward Daniel Carcillo gained the zone, breezed by a sliding Luke Schenn and then went wide on Tomas Kaberle before notching his fourth goal to put the game away at 3-0.

"There's was nothing he could do on any of those goals," said Wilson of Gustavsson, who finished with 26 saves. "He should sue for non-support."

The gloves started flying after Canadian Olympian Mike Richards buried his 18th goal of the season 82 seconds into the third period to extend the Philadelphia lead to 4-0.

In a span of two-and-a-half minutes, Toronto's Garnet Exelby squared off with Arron Asham, followed by Jeff Finger against Scott Hartnell and Dan Carcillo versus Jamal Mayers. Mayers also fought Ian Laperriere early in the first period.

Kulemin ruins shutout bid

Michael Leighton earned his fifth win in seven starts in the Flyers' net, stopping 30 of 32 shots.

Maple Leafs winger Nikolai Kulemin wristed a shot to the short side for his first goal in 13 contests early in the third period to spoil Leighton's shutout bid.

Ponikarovsky, who scored the winner against the Panthers, had the other goal for Toronto, which remains 14th in the East with a 15-20-9 record.

James van Riemsdyk rounded out the scoring for the 20-19-3 Flyers, who visit the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Jan. 14.

Philadephia entered the game in 10th place, four points behind Montreal for the final playoff slot.

"We have to try to get as many points as we can, try to win games, and get back in the playoff picture," defenceman Chris Pronger said. "We need to take it to another level."

The Maple Leafs meet the Sabres in Buffalo on Friday, followed by a Hockey Night in Canada date against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7 p.m. ET).

With files from The Associated Press