NHL Roundup : Naslund Leads Canadiens Past Boston, Back Into Adams Lead

Mats Naslund, who helped boost Montreal back into first place in the Adams Division, knows the Canadiens are in a tenuous position.

Naslund had two goals and two assists Monday night as the Canadiens turned back the Boston Bruins, 7-3, and passed the Hartford Whalers for the Adams lead.

However, Naslund knows the standings tell a different story: Montreal has fewer games left than Hartford or Boston, which is four points behind in the division race after losing its fourth straight.

“We’ve got to get a winning habit going so the other teams can’t make much use of their games in hand,” Naslund said.

Boston’s Rick Middleton and Tom McCarthy had to leave the game with injuries.

Boston Coach Terry O’Reilly said Middleton has a fractured sinus, suffered when he was slammed into the boards by defenseman Chris Chelios, but O’Reilly wasn’t sure of McCarthy’s condition. McCarthy took a slapshot in the middle of his back early in the second, and he joined Middleton in the hospital.

Steve Kasper scored twice for Boston, and Ray Bourque had the other goal.

Calgary 5, Philadelphia 0--Joe Mullen scored his 35th and 36th goals and Rejean Lemelin posted his first shutout of the season as the Flames pounded the Flyers at Philadelphia for their fourth straight victory.

Lemelin stopped 23 shots to give the Flames their first victory in Philadelphia in almost nine years. The Flames had lost 15 straight games at the Spectrum since winning, 5-2, on Oct. 22, 1978, when the franchise was located in Atlanta.

“Nobody in that room has ever won here in a Calgary uniform but the trainer,” Calgary Coach Bob Johnson said, waving toward his team’s locker room. “We’ve now completed the cycle. We’ve won in every building in the league.”