NHL: Philadelphia 8, Toronto 5

PHILADELPHIA, April 3 (UPI) -- Jeff Carter had the first hat trick of his NHL career Friday and Philadelphia scored five times in the first period en route to a wild 8-5 victory over Toronto.

The Flyers, who had lost three out of four coming into the contest, moved past Carolina into fourth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Philadelphia has 94 points with five games remaining and Carolina has 93 points with four games left.

Philadelphia built a 6-0 lead before surrendering three straight goals, but Carter's third score -- coming 4:37 into the third period -- halted the Toronto comeback hopes.

Danny Briere had a goal and three assists for Philadelphia.

Toronto, which has been eliminated from playoff contention, got a goal and two assists from Nikolai Kulemin. The Maple Leafs have lost three out of four.

Martin Biron got the win despite giving up five goals on 32 shots.

The teams met for the second time in three nights. Toronto registered a 3-2 victory Wednesday.