TORONTO -- When it comes to rookie scoring, no one in the NHL can touch the Flyers this season.
Flyer rookies accounted for four goals in Thursdays 7-1 rout of the Maple Leafs (see game recap). They now have 59 goals and 57 assists for 116 points. All three totals are league highs.
The 59 goals account for 24.1 percent of the Flyers total goals this season.
Matt Reads 23rd goal is the most for a Flyers rookie since Jeff Carter had 23 in the 2005-06 season. Also, Brayden Schenn had two goals against the Leafs in this one.
I dont remember having so many rookies on a team, veteran Danny Briere said.
And now, its not just rookies taking spots.
Theyre playing key roles on the team. Its fun to see them contributing. Nobody expected this. Its a very nice surprise. And they keep getting better. All the credit goes to them.
Bryzgalov update
General manager Paul Holmgren said that Ilya Bryzgalov (chip fractureright foot) was doing better and we believe he will practice on Friday.
NHL
That practice is at Wells Fargo Center for team picture day.
No playoffs
Been seven years since the Maple Leafs last played in the playoffs. The Flyers eliminated them in the second round in 2004.
Heres the kicker: two Toronto players from that seriesJoe Nieuwendyk and Ed Belfourhave since been voted into the Hall of Fame.
Been that long between playoff appearances.
Monster injured
Leafs goalie Jonas Gustavsson, who was supposed to start against the Flyers, was severely injured in warm-ups and had to be skated off the ice by two players.
He might have suffered major knee damage given the awkward position of his leg on the ice.
Monster, as they call him, took a shot off the left knee from Clarke MacArthur.
It happened as he exited the net. Next thing, he was sprawled face down on the ice.
Initially, players skated right past him, apparently thinking he was joking around before a trainer and team doctor went out to assist him.
Been a brutal season for Leafs with injuries220 man games lost. Gustavssons absence meant that Finnish rookie Jussi Rynnas started in goal for Toronto.
Road Warriors
The Flyers are 24-12-3 on the roadone short of their franchise record of 25 road wins set last season when they were 25-11-5.
Wins
The Flyers are 45-24-8 for 98 points. That matches the record of the 1986-87 club through 77 games and ties for the 11th-best record to that point in franchise history. Two other teams had 98 points through 77 games1996-97 (43-22-12) and 2003-04 (39-18-14-6).
The Flyers are now 11-3-1 in March. Its just the 12th instance in team history of 11 or more wins in any month. Its the fifth time the Flyers have had 11 or more wins in March and the first time since the 1984-85 season.
Loose pucks
Defenseman Andreas Lilja, who took practice at the morning skate, did not play. He has missed three games with an upper body injury. ... Ten Flyers have double-figure goals this season. ... Brieres four assists were a career-high. ... The Flyers swept the four games against the Maple Leafs this season, marking the first time since 1973-74 that theyve had four wins against Toronto in a single season (4-0-1) and the first time ever that theyve swept a four-game season series with the Leafs.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net