NHL Roundup : Canadiens Win in Overtime and Take 2-0 Lead

Mats Naslund received an unexpected lift after he scored at 2:38 of overtime Thursday night to give the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins in Game 2 of their Adams Division semifinal at Montreal.

Teammate Larry Robinson raised the 5-7 Swede a foot off the ice in a victory hug.

Montreal leads the best-of-seven series, 2-0.

Robinson had special reason to feel grateful. He had hit the Boston goal post with a slap shot just a minute before Naslund skated around Boston defenseman Raymond Bourque and slipped a weak backhander between goalie Bill Ranford’s skates.

“I thought my shot had gone in,” Robinson said. “It went right off the post and out the other side of the net behind Ranford. That kind of thing is scary because when you come that close, the other team often comes back and scores.”

On the winning goal, Brian Skrudland carried the puck over the Boston blue line and left it for Naslund in the bottom of the left circle. The left winger skated to Ranford’s right and backhanded the puck between the goalie’s stick and the goal post for his second playoff goal.

Winnipeg 3, Calgary 2--Thomas Steen scored a disputed goal with one second left in the second period at Calgary, breaking a 2-2 tie, and the Jets took a 2-0 lead in the Smythe Division semifinal series.

Steen slid the puck through the pads of goalie Mike Vernon as time ran down in the second period. The Flames argued the goal came after time had expired, but referee Denis Morel allowed the score.

Mike Bullard scored both goals for the Flames, who are 2-8 against Winnipeg this season. Paul MacLean scored twice for Winnipeg.

Hartford 5, Quebec 4--Scot Kleinendorst scored a goal and set up three others at Hartford, Conn., as the Whalers took a 2-0 lead in the Adams Division semifinal series.

Kleinendorst, who had just 12 points in 66 games during the regular season, scored and had two assists during a three-goal second period as Hartford came from behind for the second straight night.

Down 5-2 in the third, the Nordiques closed within one on goals by John Ogrodnick and Lane Lambert, but the Whalers held tight over the final three minutes.

N.Y. Islanders 3, Washington 1--Bryan Trottier scored on a power play at 17:20 of the third period and then added an empty-net goal with 17 seconds left at Landover, Md., enabling the Islanders to even the Patrick Division semifinal series at 1-1.

Despite the victory, the Islanders might have suffered a serious blow to their chances when Mike Bossy, the all-time scoring leader in playoff history, injured his left knee in a collision with Lou Franceschetti at 1:52 of the third period.

Trottier scored the tie-breaking goal from the left circle after a pass from Patrick LaFontaine went through the legs of Washington’s Kelly Miller.

Detroit 5, Chicago 1--Gerard Gallant scored just 37 seconds into the game, setting the tone at Detroit as the Red Wings won easily to take a 2-0 lead in the Norris Division semifinal series.

Joe Kocur, Steve Yzerman, Shawn Burr and Adam Oates also scored for the Red Wings.

Marc Bergevin scored for the Blackhawks.

Detroit outshot Chicago, 14-5, in the first period and held Chicago without a shot on goal for almost the last 10 minutes of the period. That included a power-play stretch of 3:17, during which the Blackhawks had a two-man advantage for 38 seconds.

Philadelphia 8, N.Y. Rangers 3--Tim Kerr and Dave Poulin scored 63 seconds apart in the third period and Rick Tocchet scored two goals as the Flyers romped at Philadelphia to even the Patrick Division semifinal series at 1-1.

Philadelphia rookie goaltender Ron Hextall stopped 24 shots as the visiting Flyers beat the Rangers at home for only the second time in six games this season.

Kerr, who led the Flyers with 58 goals during the regular season, scored his first of the playoffs at 5:19 of the third period to give Philadelphia a 4-2 lead.

Toronto 3, St. Louis 2--Defenseman Rick Lanz scored at 10:17 of overtime at St. Louis to enable the Maple Leafs to even the Norris Division semifinal series at 1-1.

Lanz, who had only three goals during the regular season, beat St. Louis goalie Greg Millen on the stick side after a faceoff.

Wendel Clark of Toronto and the Blues’ Greg Paslawski traded goals 41 seconds apart in the third period to send the game into overtime.

Clark scored with 5:44 left off a pass from Todd Gill. St. Louis countered when Paslawski slipped the puck through the legs of Gill and beat Toronto goalie Ken Wregget with 5:03 left.