Canadiens Jump Out Early in 5-1 Victory Over Flyers

Brian Savage scored two goals to help the Montreal Canadiens to a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night at Montreal.

Martin Rucinsky, Turner Stevenson and Shayne Corson also scored for the Canadiens, who scored on their first three shots on goal en route to their third consecutive victory.

Alexander Daigle scored for the Flyers, who are winless in their last six games.

“In the first period we got beat to all the loose pucks,” said Flyer forward John LeClair. “We didn’t come out with the desire we needed to win, so we fell behind early. We’re definitely looking for ways to win, but the way we came out, we’re not going to do it like that.”

N.Y. Islanders 3, Toronto 1--The Islanders scored three goals on six shots against Curtis Joseph in the third period at Toronto.

The Islanders were outshot, 39-19, but goaltender Tommy Salo was superb as New York ended a two-game losing streak.

“Tommy won us that game,” said Mike Milbury, the Islanders’ coach and general manager. “That was the worst game we played as a team, but Tommy was just brilliant.”

Said Salo, who is tied for the NHL lead with seven victories: “I felt good out there, I just played my game. Sometimes [my teammates] play well in front of me. [This time] I played really well.”

Alyn McCauley scored the only goal against Salo, deflecting in a Dimitri Yushkevich shot to tie the score at 1-1 four minutes into the third period.

Islander enforcer Gino Odjick scored the winner less than three minutes later, when Kevin Miller’s centering pass from the left corner deflected off Odjick’s skate past Joseph at 7:21.

NHL Notes

Goaltender Grant Fuhr of the St. Louis Blues is expected to be sidelined six to eight weeks after suffering a groin injury in last Saturday’s game against the San Jose Sharks. . . . Olaf Kolzig, who last season led the Washington Capitals to their first appearance in the Stanley Cup finals, signed a four-year, $12-million contract with the team. The deal takes effect immediately, replacing a contract that was due to expire at the end of the season. . . . After holding out for the first month of the season, defenseman Kyle McLaren re-signed with the Boston Bruins. He is expected to play Friday against the New York Rangers at New York. . . . The Florida Panthers recalled forward Dave Nemirovsky from the Fort Wayne Komets and announced that injured forwards Dino Ciccarelli and Steve Washburn will each be sidelined three to four weeks. Ciccarelli suffered a hairline fracture in his back last Wednesday. Washburn suffered a torn groin last Saturday.