PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (DN) - If Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals between Toronto and Philadelphia was any indication, this series could be one of the all-time greats.  The Flyers have grabbed the early advantage in a thrilling 4-3 overtime win.

The level of competition has clearly kicked up a notch for the orange and black.

"They really came at us, hard," said Philadelphia Head Coach Peter Laviolette.  "Not that the other teams didn't, but these guys clearly played better hockey.  They got off more shots, more hits and controlled the puck better.  We're lucky we came away with a win tonight, because we really got outplayed."

The Maple Leafs were riding a wave of momentum coming into tonight's Game 1, thanks to an incredible comeback from being down 3-1 in their previous series against Pittsburgh.  And, Toronto made the big splash early.

Joffrey Lupul put his team on top about midway through the first period when he beat Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov on a one-timer off a beautiful cross-ice pass by Tim Connolly.  Lupul has been a big part of Toronto's success in the playoffs thus far, leading the team with 15 points in 14 games.

"We're going to have to do a better job stopping him and checking him," said Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger.  "We let him roam free too much, and he really burned us a couple times."

Also burning up the ice with his play was Philly center Maxime Talbot.  He scored the first of his 2 goals on the night 3:08 into the second period to tie the game up.  Just over 5 minutes later, the orange and black took the lead when Scott Hartnell lit the lamp for the 6th time in these playoffs.

Talbot's new nickname could be "The Equalizer." Both of his tallies were game-tying goals, including this one that barely slipped in late in the 3rd period.

That lead held into the third period.  But, 6:27 in, Lupul tallied his second goal of the night to tie the game up at 2.  And, Mikhail Grabovski was able to give the Maple Leafs the lead when he pouned home a rebound with just under 6:00 left.

Trailing 3-2, Philadelphia looked to be in big trouble.  But, just as the clock slipped under 2:00 left in regulation, Talbot struck with the equalizer.  A slapshot bounced off Toronto goalie Jonas Gustavsson, between his legs, and barely kicked off the post and into the net.

"Sometimes, it's more about being lucky than good," said Talbot with a big grin.  "Thankfully, I was very lucky on that one, and the puck managed to find a way into the net."

Gustavsson had to be called on to start because of the injury suffered by the Maple Leafs number 1 goalie, James Reimer.  Reimer went down with a badly swollen knee in the Pittsburgh series, and is expected to miss the entire East Finals against Philly.

Gustavsson's counterpart, Bryzgalov, was clearly the better goalie on the ice tonight.  Despite giving up 3 goals, Bryzgalov kept his team in it by making a whopping 47 saves.

"We wouldn't have even had a sniff of overtime or a win if it wasn't for Bryz," said Laviolette.

In overtime, both teams ended up having to kill power plays.  Still, Toronto and Philadelphia had trouble generating good scoring chances.  It seemed a second overtime was inevitable.

But, with 2:43 left in the first extra period, Brayden Schenn got free in the slot and was able to beat Gustavsson high over his glove, sending the Wells Fargo Center into a delirious celebration.

"That was definitely the biggest moment of my career, so far," said Schenn.  "I'm just glad I was able to get into a good position and help us win.  It's a great feeling to pull this one off, but we still have a lot of work to do."

"It's going to be a tough series.  We're going to have to battle like this every night to win," said Pronger.

Game 2 is set for Friday night.

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS GAME 1: Toronto at Philadelphia - May 9, 2012
Goal Summary 1 2 3 OT F Toronto (0-1) 1 0 2 0 3 Philadelphia (1-0) 0 2 1 1 4 Three Stars Maxime Talbot, PHI 2 Goals, 4 Shots Ilya Bryzgalov, PHI 47 Saves, .940 SV% Kimmo Timonen, PHI 2 Assists, 2 Hits, 2 Shots, +1	Team Comparison Stats Shots on Goal 50 39 Hits 14 10 Faceoffs Won-Lost 24 21 Penalty Minutes 4:00 2:00 Power Plays Converted 0-1 0-2 Passing Percentage 80% 79% Time on Attack 8:38 6:42
SCORING SUMMARY FIRST PERIOD  10:08 J. Lupul (8), (T. Connolly) SECOND PERIOD  3:08 M. Talbot (4), (K. Timonen, J. van Reimsdyk)  8:35 S. Hartnell (6), (D. Briere, C. Pronger) THIRD PERIOD  6:27 J. Lupul (9), (C. Gunnarsson, T. Connolly)  14:10 M. Grabovski (7), (D. Phaneuf)  18:04 M. Talbot (5), (J. van Riemsdyk, K. Timonen) OVERTIME  17:17 B. Schenn (3), (A. Meszaros, N. Zherdev)
PENALTIES SUMMARY SECOND PERIOD  Slashing (Minor) [10:04] C. MacArthur OVERTIME  Slashing (Minor) [1:23] T. Connolly  Slashing (Minor) [12:03] J. Voracek
Philadelphia Flyers - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA I. Bryzgalov 50 47 94% 2.34
Philadelphia Flyers - Skaters SKATERS TOI G A +/- SOG PIM B. Betts 21:10 0 0 0 1 0:00 N. Boynton 19:38 0 0 1 0 0:00 D. Briere 26:46 0 1 0 2 0:00 M. Carle 23:12 0 0 1 2 0:00 B. Coburn 32:02 0 0 -1 1 0:00 C. Giroux 27:14 0 0 0 4 0:00 S. Hartnell 29:08 1 0 0 5 0:00 J. Jagr 17:38 0 0 0 5 0:00 A. Meszaros 23:47 0 1 1 0 0:00 C. Pronger 32:01 0 1 -1 3 0:00 B. Schenn 7:28 1 0 1 1 0:00 J. Shelley 18:37 0 0 0 5 0:00 W. Simmonds 13:49 0 0 1 1 0:00 M. Talbot 21:24 2 0 0 4 0:00 K. Timonen 24:03 0 2 1 2 0:00 J. van Riemsdyk 15:37 0 2 0 0 0:00 J. Voracek 19:40 0 0 0 1 2:00 N. Zherdev 11:17 0 1 1 2 0:00
Toronto Maple Leafs - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA J. Gustavsson 39 35 90% 3.11
Toronto Maple Leafs - Skaters SKATERS TOI G A +/- SOG PIM C. Armstrong 19:53 0 0 0 0 0:00 T. Bozak 17:32 0 0 0 2 0:00 T. Connolly 20:21 0 2 -1 1 2:00 P. Dupuis 14:51 0 0 -1 2 0:00 C. Franson 22:30 0 0 0 0 0:00 M. Grabovski 24:49 1 0 1 2 0:00 C. Gunnarsson 21:46 0 1 -1 4 0:00 P. Kessel 22:46 0 0 1 9 0:00 M. Komisarek 27:53 0 0 -2 4 0:00 N. Kulemin 17:28 0 0 -2 3 0:00 J. Liles 24:56 0 0 -2 1 0:00 M. Lombardi 18:18 0 0 0 3 0:00 J. Lupul 22:35 2 0 -1 6 0:00 C. MacArthur 25:27 0 0 2 3 2:00 C. Orr 14:39 0 0 -1 5 0:00 D. Phaneuf 29:54 0 1 1 1 0:00 L. Schenn 27:33 0 0 2 2 0:00 F. Sjostrom 9:09 0 0 -1 2 0:00