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PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Flyers have the Toronto Maple Leafs ' number of late.

Keith Primeau , Patrick Sharp and Tony Amonte scored in the opening 11:15 of the contest and Robert Esche made 21 saves as the Flyers posted an easy 4-1 triumph over the Maple Leafs .

In the opener of a home-and-home series between the longtime rivals, Philadelphia got off to a quick start and snapped four-game losing and six-game winless streaks.

A rematch with the team it beat in seven games in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal round last season brought out the best in Philadelphia, which scored three times on its first 12 shots and limited Toronto to just two shots over the final 20 minutes.

The win was the fourth straight for the Flyers over the Maple Leafs and the two games this season have not been close. Philadelphia has outscored Toronto, 11-2, in those contests.

"There is no question that Philly gets up for us," Toronto right wing Tom Fitzgerald said. "When you get down 3-0 it's tough to come back."

Maple Leafs goaltender Ed Belfour allowed the three early goals and was pulled with 8:45 to go in the opening period.

Toronto fell to 3-5-2 in its last 10 games.

Primeau, who returned to the lineup after missing six games with a broken thumb, got the Flyers going with a goal 3:35 into the contest. Primeau scored his fifth goal of the season by redirecting a slap shot by Chris Therien .

"I got lucky on the tip," Primeau said. "We felt that we needed to create some energy on the forecheck. Chris Therien did a good job of reading the play and pinching in. He threw the puck back toward the net and I got lucky that I got a stick on it."

"The big thing for us is that Primeau comes in and calms the whole thing down," Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock added. "He calms it down in the dressing room, calms it down with his presence and that's a big factor us. He played his game and he played how he has to play to be effective."

Sharp made it 2-0 just over six minutes into the period with his first career goal. Belfour allowed a rebound on a long slap shot by Todd Fedoruk and Sharp, who was crashing the net, whacked at the loose puck until stuffing it through the goaltender's pads.

"It is nice to rewarded for the chances that I've had," Sharp said. "Being the fourth-line center, I'm just trying to generate energy and spark the team anyway that I can."

Amonte's 13th goal of the season, off another rebound surrendered by Belfour, pushed the lead to 3-0 and ended the veteran goaltender's evening.

"I don't know where our heads go sometimes," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said. "We gave them the first three goals. They happened so quickly."

"It's my job (stopping shots) and I didn't do it to the best of my ability," Belfour said. "I take great pride in playing at the top of my game but tonight it wasn't at the top. I will make sure that tomorrow I play a much better game."

Michal Handzus picked up his 400th career assist on Amonte's goal.

Kidd replaced Belfour and stopped 16 of 17 shots the rest of the way.

Joe Nieuwendyk 's 11th goal of the season, 2:46 into the second period, got Toronto within 3-1 but John LeClair countered with his 11th of the season just under nine minutes later.