PHILADELPHIA -- Unheralded Robert Esche outbattled three-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender Martin Brodeur in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Now, the Philadelphia Flyers' netminder is two victories away from knocking off 1999 Cup winner Ed Belfour.

Esche kept his lethargic teammates in the game last night with an outstanding second period and then closed the door in the final minutes to fend off a late charge from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

His 26-save performance allowed the Flyers to sneak out with a 2-1 victory and enjoy a 2-0 lead as the best-of-seven National Hockey League Eastern Conference semi-final series heads to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto for the third and fourth games on Wednesday and Friday.

"We've been on the other end a few times when we snuck one out, when Eddie [Belfour] stood on his head," defenceman Bryan McCabe said after the loss before a sellout crowd of 19,792 at the Wachovia Center.

Under coach Pat Quinn, the Leafs have found themselves behind two games in a series twice. On both occasions, the disadvantage was 3-1, in the 1999 Eastern Conference final against the Buffalo Sabres and the 2002 conference final against the Carolina Hurricanes. And both times, the Leafs failed to battle back.

The task now is especially daunting when the Leafs consider how well Esche, 26, has played so far in this series. He has stopped 48 of the 50 shots fired his way. But Silent Bob, as he is known in Philadelphia these days because he grants only postgame interviews, is playing down his success.

"I don't look at me playing against [Brodeur] or [Belfour]," Esche said. "I can't score. I'm just trying to do my job, and that is simply stop the puck."

The native of Whitesboro, N.Y., is doing his job well, and his teammates were thankful for it after the second period. The Flyers jumped to a 1-0 lead on a Donald Brashear power-play goal in the first period.

But in the second period, they flatlined, and the Leafs came storming through. They outshot Philadelphia 11-1 (the one shot against tied a club record) in the period.

Tie Domi was able to make good on one of those attempts when he deflected a pass from Clarke Wilm past Esche.

"Eschey held us in there," Flyers forward Jeremy Roenick said. "He's been a big reason for our success."

Flyers centre Alexei Zhamnov made sure Esche's performance did not go unrewarded. The former Chicago Blackhawk scored the winning goal on a power play with 11 minutes 35 seconds remaining in the third period.

Toronto defenceman Ken Klee was caught on the play up too high, so Zhamnov sneaked behind Klee to take a pass and then beat Belfour with a low shot from close range.

In what was supposed to be a tight-checking affair, the second game was wide open and exciting, with good puck movement and plenty of scoring chances.

"When I was on the bench, it was a great game to be a spectator," Roenick said.

"It was an awesome game, back and forth, back and forth."

The Flyers' victory was their fifth in a row at home in the playoffs and spoiled the return of Toronto captain Mats Sundin.

The Leafs cried foul on the opening goal by Brashear, but to no avail. The Flyers' enforcer scored on a rebound of a bad-angle shot from Mark Recchi. Brashear, who got his first goal in 18 playoff games, nudged Leafs defenceman Bryan McCabe to shake himself free.

"Yeah, it was a push-off," McCabe said. "If there is no puck there, usually they call it on us. I don't know. What's done is done."

Brashear countered: "It was just a little push to get away from him and a chance to get the rebound."

After Brashear scored, McCabe cross-checked the Flyers' forward in the back, and when Brashear turned to give McCabe a shot back, Belfour charged out of his goal and tried to thump Brashear on the head with a right-hand punch.

There were no penalties on the play, but it was the second consecutive game Belfour retaliated against the Flyers' crease-crashing. In the series opener, he slashed Todd Fedoruk and was called for a penalty.

Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock elevated Brashear from the fourth line to play with Keith Primeau and Simon Gagné. The three received the assignment of checking the Sundin line.

The only lineup change made by the Leafs was the return of Sundin. He went in for injured Joe Nieuwendyk, who missed his second game of the playoffs because of his wonky back.

Each of the Toronto lines underwent revamping. Sundin played with Gary Roberts and Darcy Tucker. Centre Ron Francis stayed with Alexander Mogilny, but had Chad Kilger on the left side. Robert Reichel played between Domi and Wilm, while Nik Antropov shifted to the middle, between left winger Alexei Ponikarovsky and right winger Tom Fitzgerald.

The Skinny

The good: Leafs captain Mats Sundin returned after a four-game layoff with a left leg injury and played well in Toronto's best outing of the playoffs.

The bad: Toronto blueliner Bryan McCabe handled the puck like a hot potato throughout the game.

The ugly: The Leafs have never bounced back from a two-game disadvantage in six postseasons under head coach Pat Quinn.