TORONTO - The Toronto Maple Leafs appear to be running out of gas.
Claude Giroux's second-period goal stood up as the winner Thursday as the Philadelphia Flyers edged the Maple Leafs 3-2.
It was the third loss in as many games for a Toronto team that didn't have much jump despite its current playoff chase. The Leafs entered the night trailing the eighth-place Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes by four points in the standings and failed to gain any ground.
Andrej Meszaros and Darroll Powe also scored for Philadelphia (42-19-6), which was without top defenceman Chris Pronger because of an undisclosed upper-body injury.
Mikhail Grabovski and Joffrey Lupul replied for the Maple Leafs (29-29-10).
At a time when questionable hits have dominated discussion around the NHL, referees Mike Leggo and Brian Pochmara came down hard on Leafs defenceman Mike Komisarek. Less than four minutes into the game, he was given a five-minute boarding penalty and game misconduct for shoving Daniel Carcillo into the boards from behind.
Meszaros opened the scoring on the ensuing power play by blasting home his sixth of the season at 4:55.
Toronto was fortunate to emerge otherwise unscathed from that situation, with goalie James Reimer making a great pad stop on Jeff Carter while the Flyers built an early 8-1 shots advantage.
The rookie goaltender would like the second goal back. Powe got his sixth of the season at 9:36 of the second period after squirting a low shot from an awkward angle along the goal-line between Reimer's legs.
Grabovski gave Toronto a brief shot of life with the most painful of his 26 goals this season. He was standing at the side of the goal when Dion Phaneuf's point shot riccocheted off his visor and past Brian Boucher at 11:13.
It was the Leafs' first power-play goal in six games.
The team pushed hard for the tying goal immediately after that -- Boucher robbed Colby Armstrong with his glove -- until Giroux put the Flyers ahead 3-1 at 14:40. He went to the centre of the ice just as the puck arrived on his stick and beat Reimer.
Energy line player Mike Brown was an unlikely catalyst for Toronto in the third period, turning defenceman Sean O'Donnell inside-out before setting up Lupul's goal at 7:56. But the team was unable to get another puck past Boucher.
Toronto now looks ahead to a key Saturday night matchup with the Sabres that is as close to a must-win game as its faced all season.
Notes: Since dealing Kris Versteeg to the Flyers on Feb. 14, Toronto has gone 6-2-4 ... Jay Rosehill and Jonas Gustavsson were healthy scratches for Toronto ... Andreas Nodl and Nikolay Zherdev also sat out for the Flyers ... Announced attendance was 19,475.
