Leafs down Flyers; Philly deals Forsberg

Hockey Betting Lines

02/16/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mats Sundin had a goal and an assist to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wachovia Center.

The big news during the game came when the Flyers traded coveted center Peter Forsberg to the Nashville Predators for right wing Scottie Upshall, defenseman Ryan Parent and a first and third round draft pick in the 2007 NHL entry draft.

"Peter Forsberg is one of the NHL's most complete players and the ultimate competitor - a consistent winner who has year in and year out been a difference maker in the Stanley Cup playoffs," said Nashville vice president and general manager David Poile. "He strengthens our club up the middle and will provide another battle-tested, veteran voice to our dressing room."

Forsberg skated with the team in practice Thursday in preparation for the home game against Toronto, but was listed as a healthy scratch just before the start.

"This is a deal, we didn't want to do it, he knows we didn't want to do it, but at the end of the day we had to do it," said Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, who added Forsberg was noncommittal at returning to the team if he becomes a free agent after this season.

Jeff O'Neill, Nik Antropov and Carlo Colaiacovo each scored a goal for the Maple Leafs, who snapped a three-game slide. Andrew Raycroft made 34 saves in the win.

Simon Gagne had a goal and an assist while Mike Knuble added a goal for the Flyers, who had won their previous two games.

Michael Leighton started in net for Philadelphia but was pulled after giving up three goals on 12 shots. Antero Niittymaki finished in net and made 19 saves.

The Maple Leafs were all over the Flyers in the first period and took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

Just 6:39 in, Matt Stajan sent a turnaround pass from the top of the left circle to the slot and from the right circle O'Neill snapped a wrister in between the pads of Leighton.

A little over two minutes later on the power play, Antropov completed a 2-on-1 rush when his wrist shot from the right circle beat Leighton again through the five-hole.

With 5:50 left in the first period, Colaiacovo's wrist shot from the slot beat Leighton and chased the goaltender from the net.

The Flyers got one back in the second period when, while skating on the power play, Alexei Zhitnik sent a pass from the high slot to the right side where Gagne gathered the puck and flicked a wrister over the right shoulder of Raycroft to make it a 3-1 game with 7:50 left in the middle frame.

Sundin gave the Maple Leafs a 4-1 lead with 8:14 left in the game when his wrist shot from the right circle went over the glove of Niittymaki.

Philadelphia got a goal back when, skating on the power play, Jeff Carter grabbed a loose puck behind the net and sent it to the low right circle where Knuble one-timed it between the pads of Raycroft with 5:14 to play.

Forsberg will now join the top team in the Western Conference, although he has been battling injuries all season as he has missed 16 games. He had a procedure done on his right foot this past May and also had two bursas removed. He was originally scheduled to have surgery on both his feet, but learned surgery on his left foot was not necessary. Forsberg returned in time to appear in the Flyers starting lineup for their first game of the season.

However, since then he had a right ankle problem that forced him to miss four consecutive games in December. Forsberg returned to the Flyers lineup on December 16 at Washington, but promptly suffered a concussion and missed the next three games. He has also sat out several games as he has had constant problems finding a skate that would comfortably fit his right foot.

"I was playing this year and some games I didn't know if I was going on the ice," Forsberg said. "That's how bad my foot didn't fit in the skate. It's tough to play hockey."

Despite this, the Flyers wanted Forsberg to re-sign before his two-year contract was to expire at the end of this season. However, Forsberg didn't give the Flyers a long-term commitment.

"We've gone round and round with Peter the last fair amount of time, making a commitment to us for future years," Holmgren said. "Due to Peter's uncertainty, he could not and would not do that moving forward. It was our belief in the long run, for the betterment of the franchise, for the future, this is something we needed to do."

Game Notes

Toronto returns home to face Edmonton on Saturday...The Flyers play the Rangers in New York on Saturday afternoon...Gagne has a four-game goal streak with six tallies during the run...The Flyers went 2-for-7 on the power play while Toronto scored on one of its six attempts...Gagne has 30 goals on the season, his third time he has reached that plateau in his career.