NHL ROUNDUP : Canadiens Go From Hot Seat to Hot Streak

One of new Coach Mario Tremblay’s first decisions when he went to Montreal was to move Brian Savage to left wing on the Canadiens’ first line.

Matching the gritty Savage with slick playmakers Pierre Turgeon and Mark Recchi has so far paid off.

Savage’s two goals paced the Canadiens to a 7-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night at Montreal.

Recchi, Turgeon, Saku Koivu, Benoit Brunet and Vincent Damphousse also scored for the suddenly revitalized Canadiens, who have won three in a row after five losses to start the season.

The 0-5 start, second worst in Canadiens’ history, resulted in the firing of General Manager Serge Savard and Coach Jacques Demers. Tremblay replaced Demers last Saturday.

Brian Barnes and Gord Murphy scored for the Panthers.

Vancouver 4, New Jersey 2--Linemates Trevor Linden, Mike Ridley and Martin Gelinas each scored a goal and the Canucks got the Devils to play a wide-open game at East Rutherford, N.J.

Cliff Ronning also scored and Kirk McLean had 20 saves as Vancouver snapped a two-game losing streak and handed the Stanley Cup champions only their second loss in eight games.

St. Louis 4, Hartford 2--Dale Hawerchuk scored one goal and had a hand in three others as the Blues won at Hartford.

The game marked the return to Hartford of Chris Pronger, who was traded to St. Louis for Brendan Shanahan in July. Pronger scored the eventual game-winner during the Blues’ three-goal first period.

The victory came during a week marred by Blues controversy as Coach Mike Keenan took the captaincy away from Brett Hull. Hull had one goal and one assist.

Philadelphia 3, New York Islanders 1--John LeClair, Mikael Renberg and Rod Brind’Amour each scored during a three-minute span as the Flyers won at Philadelphia.

Philadelphia’s Legion of Doom line played a big part in the game, combining for five points. Center Eric Lindros, who had two assists, has scored at least one point in each game this season.

Colorado 3, Calgary 2--Peter Forsberg and Owen Nolan each had a goal and two assists as the Avalanche ruined the Flames’ home opener.

A crowd of 19,152 at the refurbished Saddledome in Calgary saw the Flames’ winless streak reach 0-5-3--a franchise record for futility at the start of a season.

Jon Flemm also scored for Colorado, which won its first on the road this season after three losses.

Winnipeg 6, San Jose 1--Teemu Selanne had two goals and three assists for the Jets, who scored four goals in the first period at San Jose and outshot the Sharks, 37-18.