NHL Roundup : Bruins, Living Life of O’Reilly, Beat Canadiens

The Boston Bruins are playing as if they were a whole bunch of Terry O’Reillys.

When O’Reilly, now the Bruin coach, played center for the Bruins, he was a tough battler who excelled on defense. Boston won many games by just keeping up the defensive pressure.

The Bruins used that system Saturday night at Montreal in beating the Canadiens, 4-2. It was Boston’s sixth victory in a row and moved it into a tie for first place with Montreal in the Adams Division.

The Bruins spotted the Stanley Cup champions a 2-0 lead in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the game, then slowly fought their way back.

They tied the score with goals by Keith Crowder and Ken Linseman just 16 seconds apart in the middle of the second period.

There was only 2:47 remaining in the game when Rick Middleton gave the Bruins their first lead with his seventh goal of the season. Middleton’s empty-net goal with two seconds left completed the scoring.

“We’ve won six in a row, and you can’t get much better than that,” O’Reilly said. “Our goaltending’s been great, and the defense is more conscious of its responsibilities.

“We were caught a little off guard at the start, but Bill (Ranford, the Bruin goalie) settled down and kept them away the rest of the game.”

When the Bruins fired Butch Goring last month, they persuaded O’Reilly to come out of the broadcasting booth to be a co-coach with assistant Mike Milbury.

O’Reilly is now the team’s only head coach, although it took considerable persuasion to get him to accept the job on a permanent basis. He quickly won the support of his players, and the Bruins, after a sluggish start this season, are suddenly playing the best hockey in the league.

Considering this was the first meeting between the Bruins and the Canadiens since they engaged in a free-for-all Nov. 20, it was not a rough game. There were a couple of fights and some high-sticking calls but no major outbreaks of hostilities.

Minnesota 5, Philadelphia 4--Dino Ciccarelli scored his league-leading 28th goal near the middle of the third period at Bloomington, Minn., to give the North Stars the victory.

The Flyers (21-7-2) have the best record in the National Hockey League, and this was the first game all season they lost while scoring at least four goals.

Dave Poulin scored twice for the Flyers, who twice came from behind to tie the score.

Kent Nilsson started the winning play with a pass to Dennis Maruk to the right of Flyer goaltender Ron Hextall. Maruk snapped a pass to Ciccarelli, who fired quickly for his first goal in three games.

The teams were scoreless for 19 minutes, then each scored twice in a little more than a two-minute span.

Quebec 7, Buffalo 0--Brent Ashton scored three goals and assisted on two others, and Clint Malarchuk stopped 28 shots at Quebec as the Nordiques ended a four-game losing streak.

The hapless Sabres have only one victory in their last 16 games, and their 5-20-4 record is their worst start in history.

The Nordiques scored on five of their first 11 shots off Tom Barrasso. Barrasso, who only a couple of years ago was considered the league’s best goalie, departed early in the second period.

New York Islanders 4, New Jersey 2--It was an empty-net goal near the end of the game, but it was the 556th goal for Mike Bossy and moved him into a tie with Johnny Bucyk for fifth place on the career list.

The win extended the Islanders’ record at Uniondale, N.Y., against the Devils to 30-1-3.

Bossy, whose goal came with 16 seconds left, has 21 goals in 24 games.

Hartford 2, Vancouver 2--Center Dean Evason took a breakaway pass from Paul Lawless and scored with just 93 seconds left in regulation to get the Whalers a tie at Hartford, Conn.

Although the Whalers have won seven of their last 11 and the Canucks have won only one of their last seven, the Canucks dominated most of the way before having to settle for less than a win.

Toronto 3, Pittsburgh 2--Steve Thomas scored with just 24 seconds remaining in overtime at Toronto to avenge the Maple Leafs’ 8-3 loss to the Penguins the previous night at Pittsburgh.

Thomas’ 11th goal and a tight defense that held Mario Lemieux to an assist enabled the Maple Leafs to get the victory. The previous night, Lemieux had contributed four goals and two assists.

St. Louis 4, Chicago 4--Mark Lavarre scored with 7:34 left in regulation at St. Louis as the Blackhawks wiped out a two-goal deficit in the third period to earn the tie.

Chicago’s Troy Murray had cut the deficit to one with a goal at 2:58 of the final period. Bernie Federko scored twice for the Blues.