Maple Leafs end skid with win over Flyers

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Maple Leafs won their first game under new general manager Brian Burke, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 on Saturday to end a five-game winless streak.

Nik Antropov's second period power play goal broke a 1-1 tie and the Maple Leafs surged to victory hours after Burke, who built the Anaheim Ducks into the 2007 Stanley Cup champions, was named Toronto's president and general manager.

Burke also addressed the team before game time.

"For me, it was the passion and loyalty he has," Lee Stempniak, who scored Toronto's opening goal, told reporters.

"You can tell that just by the way he carries himself."

Stempniak, however, said Burke was not the only reason the Maple Leafs won.

"If there was any extra energy in our game, it wasn't because he came in and gave us a rah-rah speech," he added. "Maybe it affected us subconsciously."

Dominic Moore made it 3-1 in the second period before Mike Richards, with a shorthanded tally, scored the second of his two goals for Philadelphia.

Antropov also had an assists for the Maple Leafs, who won at home for the fourth time this season.

Toronto's Kubina closed out the scoring 2:16 into the third period.

After Stempniak scored the Maple Leafs' opening goal, Richards matched it at 15:20 of the first period.

Vesa Toskala made 28 saves for Toronto with Martin Biron making 23 for Philadelphia.

"The last few games his (Toskala's) focus has been so much better," Leafs coach Ron Wilson said.

"I don't know why, but he was passive before. He was sitting back and getting deep in the net. Now, he's at the top of the crease."

Elsewhere in the NHL, Sidney Crosby had a hat trick and an assist to power the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

(Writing by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Greg Stutchbury and Martin Petty)