Martin St. Louis will make his NHL coaching debut when the Montreal Canadiens host the Washington Capitals on Thursday.
The Canadiens, last in the 32-team NHL, fired head coach Dominique Ducharme on Wednesday, one day after they were beaten 7-1 at home by the New Jersey Devils, who had lost seven straight games. Ducharme led the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final last season but was 23-46-14 in the regular season since taking over for Claude Julien February 2021.
St. Louis was given the job on an interim basis. He has never coached at any level, though he was a special teams consultant for the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2019.
“We are very happy to welcome Martin to the Canadiens organization,” general manager Kent Hughes said. “Not only are we adding an excellent hockey man, but with Martin we are bringing in a proven winner and a man whose competitive qualities are recognized by all who have crossed his path.”
St. Louis, a Hockey Hall of Famer who helped the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup in 2004, takes over a team that has lost seven in a row and 13 of 14 (1-9-4), and that has allowed at least five goals in five straight games. The Canadiens are 2-15-5 in their past 22 games and have not won two in a row all season.
Brett Kulak scored for Montreal against New Jersey and Cayden Primeau made 27 saves as his record fell to 1-6-1 with a 4.62 goals-against-average and .874 save percentage. With Jake Allen out and Sam Montembeault day-to-day, the 22-year-old Primeau is bearing the brunt of Montreal’s poor play in front of him.
“I’m sure it’s not easy for a young goalie playing right now behind us,” defenseman Ben Chiarot said after the game. “But at the same time, young players on this team right now are getting a chance to prove themselves and show what they can do in tough circumstances. To become an everyday NHL player, you kind of have to go through the fire a little bit and have some tough times.”
The Capitals are having troubles of their own. They’ve lost four of their past six games and are 5-8-2 in 2022. That includes a frustrating 5-4 loss to the visiting Blue Jackets on Tuesday. After losing leads of 2-0 and 3-2, the Capitals rallied from a 4-3 deficit late in the third period to tie the game, only to have Columbus score in the final minute for the win.
“We just have to find a way to play consistent 60-minute games,” defenseman Nick Jensen said. “We have to learn to win games 1-0, 2-1, stuff like that. It can’t be 4-4, run-and-gun style games. That’s not winning hockey in the long run.”
Special teams and goaltending have been issues for Washington of late. Goalie Vitek Vanecek remains on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Pheonix Copley, who was strong in relief of Ilya Samsonov in a loss on Feb. 2, started against the Blue Jackets but was pulled early in the third period after allowing four goals on 19 shots.
Columbus was 2-for-3 on the power play and scored two seconds after its one unsuccessful chance ended. The Capitals have allowed opponents to score six times on nine power plays in their past three games; they are 2-for-9 on their own power play during that span.
“Everyone’s a little fatigued over playing a lot of games. But it’s real important to get together as a group and really play for each other,” center Nicklas Backstrom said. “The only one that’s going to turn this around is us players. We’ve just got to keep grinding and come together as a team and find our identity.”
Alex Ovechkin returned after missing one game while in COVID-19 protocol and had an assist, snapping a four-game pointless streak. However, he won’t be in Montreal because Quebec requires a 10-day isolation period for those who test positive for COVID-19.
–Field Level Media
