The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA - Keith Primeau had three goals and Michal Handzus scored twice, leading the Philadelphia Flyers to a 7-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs Sunday in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Philadelphia can eliminate the Leafs with a victory in Toronto on Tuesday night. If necessary, Game 7 would be Thursday.

The home team has won each game in the series.

Primeau, the Flyers' captain, addressed his teammates in a closed-door meeting Saturday. He responded with the best playoff performance of his 14-year career.

"He told us he would be great today and to jump on for the ride," Flyers goaltender Sean Burke said.

Primeau shared the credit.

"I'm getting lucky right now," Primeau said. "I had to lead with emotion and energy. There was no extra pressure. We have a lot of guys capable of leading."

The win was costly for the Flyers, who lost goalie Robert Esche and defenseman Vladimir Malakhov to undisclosed injuries. Burke replaced Esche after the first period and stopped eight of nine shots. "Both have upper-body injuries. We'll give you the truth tomorrow," Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said.

Toronto	1	1	0-2
Philadelphia	3	3	1-7

First Period-1, Philadelphia, Recchi 2, 3:51. 2, Philadelphia, Handzus 1 (Gagne, Johnsson), 5:43. 3, Philadelphia, Primeau 3, 18:54 (sh). 4, Toronto, Nieuwendyk 6 (Kaberle, Francis), 19:25 (pp). Penalties-Primeau, Phi (cross-checking), 4:31; Kaberle, Tor (holding), 4:31; Recchi, Phi (holding), 6:35; Tucker, Tor (charging), 15:42; Gagne, Phi (holding), 18:05.

Second Period-5, Philadelphia, Primeau 4 (Gagne, Radivojevic), :44. 6 Philadelphia, Radivojevic 1 (Markov, Primeau), 3:54. 7, Philadelphia, Handzus 2 (Somik, Brashear), 7:03. 8, Toronto, Roberts 4 (Mogilny), 9:54. Penalties-Gagne, Phi (roughing), 3:28; Marchment, Tor (elbowing), 3:28; Antropov, Tor (cross-checking), 7:55; Nieuwendyk, Tor (roughing), 7:55; Roenick, Phi (interference), 7:55; Philadelphia bench, served by Radivojevic (too many men), 8:57; Somik, Phi (high-sticking), 12:30; Wilm, Tor (slashing), 15:02; Radivojevic, Phi (high-sticking), 16:57; Belak, Tor (roughing), 19:16.

Third Period-9, Philadelphia, Primeau 5 (Gagne, Timander), 3:50. Penalties-Brashear, Phi (slashing), 3:53; Marchment, Tor (tripping), 8:34; Brashear, Phi, misconduct, 8:34; Domi, misconduct-game misconduct, 8:34; Pitkanen, Phi (roughing), 11:03; Kaberle, Tor (high-sticking), 11:35; Belak, Tor, minor-misconduct (slashing), 17:32.

Shots on goal-Tor 2-6-3-11. Phi 13-6-10-29. Power-play Opportunities-Tor 1 of 7; Phi 0 of 7. Goalies-Tor, Belfour 6-6 (18 shots-12 saves), Kidd (7:03 second, 11-10). Phi, Esche 7-3 (2-1), Burke (0:00 second, 9-8). A-19,825 (19,519).

FLAMES-RED WINGS: Calgary can advance to the Western Conference final if it beats the Detroit Red Wings in Game 6 of their semifinal series tonight. Calgary used a 1-0 victory in Detroit Saturday to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series.

"Our preparation was focused," Calgary captain Jarome Iginla said. "We're not that excited as far as our win yesterday. We're not all smiles around here. We realize there is more work to be done ..."

The Flames finished sixth in the conference to reach the playoffs for the first time in eight years. They are on the verge of eliminating a team that had the best regular-season record in the NHL and has won three Stanley Cups since 1997.

Detroit captain Steve Yzerman is out indefinitely after undergoing 4 1/2 hours of surgery for a scratched cornea and broken bone just below his left eye.