TORONTO -- Nazem Kadri and the Toronto Maple Leafs like to think of the first period as the most important 20 minutes of the game. Kendall Fuller Chiefs Jersey . That worked out well against the Philadelphia Flyers, though making the third period their worst almost didnt. The Leafs blew two leads after the second intermission but managed to rebound to beat the Flyers 4-3 in overtime Saturday night at Air Canada Centre. "It feels good," game-winning goal-scorer Joffrey Lupul said of bouncing back. "We dont want to make a habit of blowing third-period leads. Things are going to happen, other teams are going to make plays and we stuck with it. "There was a good feeling on our bench going into overtime. It seemed like everyone had their composure and were calm and we got the result we needed." The result was the Leafs second straight overtime victory but also the fourth game in five since the Olympic break that involved blowing at least one third-period lead. Toronto had a two-goal lead 3:38 into the first by virtue of goals by Jake Gardiner and Kadri, but that slipped away after Flyers defenceman Kimmo Timonen scored twice. Mason Raymonds go-ahead goal later in the third was then erased when Braydon Coburn beat Jonathan Bernier with plenty of traffic in front. That was the sixth time the Leafs had coughed up a lead in the final period of regulation in the past five games. Gardiner called it "a little bit of a collapse defensively," and it was hard for his teammates to disagree given this disturbing trend. "Obviously thats a little bit of a concern, but thats not something thats drawing our complete attention," Kadri said. "Obviously our D-zone could be a little tighter, but thats something weve got to work on." With 17 games left in the regular season, theres some time to go to work, but most importantly, Leafs players took out of Saturday night the satisfaction of not caving in and managing to pick up two valuable points. Toronto (34-23-8) now has 76 points, two up on the Tampa Bay Lightning for the third playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. "Thats really what we focus on: we show character to stay in games," Kadri said. "Even though its a little bit deflating at times giving up a couple goal-leads in the third period, especially late to force overtime, we stay positive and came out with the right outcome." Coach Randy Carlyle had his issues with the Leafs performance, like when he thought players stopped skating at the end of the second period and how several stayed on the ice for shifts that were too long for his liking. But he, too, took a positive out of regrouping after Coburn tied the score again at the 17:28 mark of the third. "A lot of times when the game gets away from you, your team goes and continues to spiral," Carlyle said. "Well we didnt spiral, in my mind. Maybe if I re-watch it again Ill have a different opinion, but it didnt seem like we were under siege in the third." At the start, the Leafs had the Flyers (33-24-7) under siege. The goals by Gardiner and Kadri came on Torontos first four shots against Steve Mason, who looked shaky for at least the first handful of minutes. From Coburns perspective, it wasnt just Mason, who stopped 32 of the 36 shots he faced. "We had an awful start," he said. "We cant start hockey that way." While Leafs winger Troy Bodie, who helped set up Gardiners goal as part of his two-assist night, noticed a jump from those two early goals, it put Philadelphia in a major hole that it had to climb out of the rest of the game. "The first 10 minutes of the game, we didnt play that good and they were able to score two goals, but I think the next 50-54 minutes, we were skating and working and creating chances," said Timonen