In Montreal, it was same song from the same book as the Canadiens lost to the Washington Capitals, 5-2, on Thursday night.
The Caps’ Joe Snively hit for a double, his first two goals in the NHL.
“I thought we started off really well and I thought the opposition, with the new coach, they were going to come out pretty hot and firing,” Snively said. “But I thought we contained them pretty well and made the most of our chances.”
Martin St. Louis made his debut as Montreal’s new head coach.
“It was amazing,” St. Louis said. “I just love how we fought and I just felt we kept getting better as the game went [on], and that was fun to see. … We didn’t cheat, you know, we just stayed the course, and I really feel the only thing we didn’t do tonight was win.”
Ilya Samsonov made 42 saves in the Washington win.
The Capitals improved to 26-14-9.
“I thought his (Snively) game was really good tonight, but it’s been good,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. “He’s detailed, he’s tenacious, he’s quick, he’s got a good skill level. You notice him in the battles, you notice him when he has open space, then you notice that he can make plays as well.
“It’s not just tonight, he got rewarded with a couple goals tonight and an assist, but it’s something we’ve noticed in most of the games and that’s why he’s up playing with ‘Kuzy’ and ‘Willy.’ He does a good job. He brings a lot of tenacity to the game.”
Snively and Connor McMichael scored in the first period to the Caps a 2-0 lead.
Rem Pitlick and Cole Caufield struck for the Hans in the second period to make the game a little more palatable.
“He (St Louis) came in full of energy, it looked like he wanted to lace them up, so it was pretty exciting for all of us,” the Canadiens’ Josh Anderson said. “And you could see a couple of jaws drop with Marty, the way he talks and presents himself and the way he wants to work with the players and the organization, and he wants to build a winning culture. I’m not going to get into the gist of it, you know, what he said in detail, but it was a very good speech to the players.”
Montreal fell to 8-31-7.
“I’ve seen Cole Caufield play for many years, so I’m not surprised,” St. Louis said. “Sometimes you lack a little confidence, but it’s not like he’s forgotten how to play hockey and you know it’s going to come back.”
Carl Hagelin and Snively scored in the middle frame to help the Caps take a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Tom Wilson scored an empty-net goal for the 5-2 final.
Cayden Primeau got the start for Montreal and was given the hook early in the middle frame; he made 10 saves and surrendered four goals to the Caps.
Sam Montembeault made eight saves in a mop up role.
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