NHL ROUNDUP : Nordiques Surprise Canadiens, 5-2

When the two bitter hockey rivals from Quebec Province get together, form doesn’t always prevail.

In their third meeting of the season Thursday night at Quebec, the Montreal Canadiens went into action with the best record in the NHL.

The Quebec Nordiques, losers in the two previous meetings, were tied with the expansion San Jose Sharks for the worst record. In addition, the Nordiques had lost six in a row.

But Joe Sakic scored twice and assisted on another as the Nordiques gave new Coach Pierre Page cause to celebrate with a 5-2 victory over the Canadiens.

Page, the general manager, replaced Dave Chambers as coach and lost his debut Monday night, the club’s sixth defeat in a row.

The Nordiques jumped in front, 3-0, in the first period, with rookie defenseman Dan Lambert starting the rally with his first NHL goal.

Late in the second period, the Canadiens, who beat Quebec twice last month during their nine-game winning streak, threw a scare into the Nordiques late in the second period. Mathieu Schneider and Stephane Lebeau scored 47 seconds apart.

Instead of folding in the final period, the Nordiques came up with some offense to wrap it up. Doug Small scored at 6:12 and 43 seconds later Sakic clinched it with his ninth goal.

Since their nine-game winning streak, the Canadiens are 2-4-1. With a 15-7-2 record, they still lead the Adams Division by 11 points.

It was only the fourth victory in 20 games for the Nordiques, who trail Montreal by 23 points.

Calgary 3, Vancouver 2--Seldom-used left wing Tim Sweeney scored his first goal of the season with six minutes left in regulation at Calgary to break a 2-2 tie.

It was the second loss in a row for the Canucks and ended the Flames’ three-game winless streak.