TORONTO – Jeff O’Neill scored his first goal with hometown team and Eric Lindros added one against his former club as the Toronto Maple Leafs topped the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 Tuesday night for their first win of the season.

O’Neill’s one-timer on the power play gave Toronto a 3-2 lead at 7:34 of the third period. He then pointed to the sky, dedicating the goal to his older brother, Donny, who was killed in a car accident in Toronto in July. O’Neill acknowledged his tribute in a postgame interview.

O’Neill was traded to Toronto from Carolina two weeks after his brother was killed. O’Neill was in Toronto at the time of the crash to attend a meeting in which the NHL players’ association ratified the new collective bargaining agreement with the league.

Lindros scored with 6:51 left to make it 4-2 for the Maple Leafs (1-1-2). Lindros, a Toronto native, has four points in four games with his new team.

He spent his first nine NHL seasons with Philadelphia and was the league MVP in 1995. A bitter dispute with general manager Bob Clarke led to Lindros being traded to the New York Rangers in the summer of 2001. Lindros signed with the Maple Leafs after the lockout.

Mike Knuble and Simon Gagne scored for the Flyers.

Philadelphia coach Ken Hitchcock pulled goalie Robert Esche in favor of an extra attacker with 1:18 left, but the Flyers couldn’t cut into their deficit.

Backup Mikael Tellqvist started in goal for Toronto in the second of back-to-back contests. He made 31 saves one night after the Maple Leafs lost in a shootout at Ottawa.

Darcy Tucker gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 7:28 of the first after Esche couldn’t clear a rebound

Knuble tied it with a short-handed goal at 17:47 after a Leafs defenseman failed to check him in front of the net.

Toronto’s Kyle Wellwood scored his first NHL goal by streaking down low and converting a behind-the-net pass from Alexander Steen at 4:16 of the second.

Gagne tied it at 2 with just over two minutes left in the second period by putting a rebound past Tellqvist, who was facing a barrage of shots.

Notes: The start of the second period was delayed for 30 minutes after the lights didn’t fully come on. Both teams returned to the dressing rooms after skating around the ice. … The Maple Leafs honored longtime Blue Jays broadcaster Tom Cheek, who died Sunday after a battle with brain cancer. His most famous call – Joe Carter’s 1993 World Series winning home run – was shown on the video board. … Flyers D Chris Therien missed the game because of back spasms.

AP-ES-10-11-05 2254EDT


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