Jacques Martin

After examining the video and digesting the beating, the Canadiens have two words to sum up Sunday's Game 1 disaster: It happens. They didn't blame the refs or shower the Flyers with too much praise. The reason for the 6-0 loss, they think, lies mostly within. "I think X's and O's didn't have much to play into it," Brian Gionta said. "It's a matter of winning individual battles. It had nothing to do with getting outhit or whatnot. We just weren't prepared to play from the start.

Rick Nash scored the go-ahead goal to put Canada in the title game of the World Ice Hockey Championships with a 5-4 win over Sweden in Quebec City last night, setting up a championship showdown with Russia tomorrow. Sergei Fedorov scored the opening goal of the game and Evgeni Nabakov stopped 23 shots to lead Russia to a 4-0 win over Finland in the first game of the semifinal doubleheader. It will be the first time Canada and Russia have ever met with the world championship on the line.

Mike Keenan will be introduced today as the general manager of the Florida Panthers and former Ottawa coach Jacques Martin will be the team's new coach, according to the Miami Herald. Keenan was fired in November as Panthers coach. The GM position is open because Rick Dudley was fired Monday by majority owner Alan Cohen. Dudley had been the Panthers' general manager since May 2002, when Keenan, ironically, pointed the Panthers toward Dudley. The Panthers had improved in the standings both seasons under Dudley, who injected youth, size and speed into the lineup.

E.J. McGuire and Jacques Martin were introduced yesterday as assistant coaches of Mike Keenan's Chicago Blackhawks. McGuire, who assisted Keenan for four seasons with the Flyers, had turned down new coach Paul Holmgren's offer to stay on his staff. Martin, who was fired in May after two seasons as head coach of the St. Louis Blues, goes back with Keenan to their Peterborough days. Keenan was coach of the Petes when he hired Martin as a scout. Martin later coached the Petes, then moved on to Guelph, where he won a Memorial Cup championship.

The Sporting News is reporting it has learned that Montreal Canadiens coach Jacques Martin is in serious danger of paying for the Habs' slow start with his job. The Canadiens have lost six of their first seven games, the latest setback: a 5-4 in overtime to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. Two sources told the Sporting News that the outlook is grim for Martin, who has an 84-67-20 record as Montreal's coach since 2009, including this season's 1-4-2 stumble out of the gate.

The hard work paid off for the Ottawa Senators. The NHL's worst team, showing new spark since Jacques Martin was hired as coach a week ago, ended a league-record 17-game home winless streak last night with a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. Alexei Yashin had a goal and two assists for Ottawa. The Senators, however, did not want to jinx themselves by talking about their recently improved play. "You've got to be superstitious and not say anything," Alexandre Daigle said.

Jacques Martin, fired last month after two seasons as coach of the St. Louis Blues, is joining Mike Keenan's coaching staff with the Chicago Blackhawks. Martin, whom Keenan hired as a scout when he ran the junior Peterborough Petes and who won a Canadian national junior championship with Hull in 1986, will be introduced at a Chicago Stadium press conference today. Though it is a foregone conclusion that E.J. McGuire, the former Flyers assistant, also will be working in Chicago, he apparently will not be part of today's announcement.

Evgeni Malkin had his seventh career hat trick, and the injury-depleted Pittsburgh Penguins peppered two Buffalo Sabres goalies in an 8-3 win on Saturday night in Pittsburgh. Jason Williams and Simon Despres both scored their first goal with Pittsburgh during the first seven minutes, and James Neal, Deryk Engelland, and Chris Kunitz added goals for the Penguins, who had lost four of five. Elsewhere: Patrik Elias scored twice and the New Jersey Devils spoiled Randy Cunneyworth's NHL coaching debut with a 5-3 win over the host Montreal Canadiens . . . . Brad Richards scored the winning goal with 0.1 seconds left as the New York Rangers beat the Phoenix Coyotes , 3-2. . . . Cody McLeod and Erik Johnson both scored their first goals of the season as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Washington Capitals , 2-1, for their fifth straight home victory.

It's difficult to determine what's been wrong with the Ottawa Senators this season. Expected to challenge for the Stanley Cup, the team is mired in eighth place in the conference. The Senators, however, defeated the Flyers, 4-1, last night for just their second victory in six games. It could be a building block to normalcy for them. "We haven't been as dominant as people thought," coach Jacques Martin said. "I really think our mind-set has been part of the problem. You've got to look at every game and know that the opponent is going to be tough.

Mike Keenan's "Triple Dare" is choreographed by Alan Eagleson and produced and directed by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Apparently, the contestant so far has answered all the questions of the St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota North Stars correctly. Now he has to decide: A) Whether to confirm his interest in becoming the next coach, general manager, future general manager, or any combination thereof with any of the above teams. B) Or settle for the money he has won to this point and not go on to the next round.

Evgeni Malkin had his seventh career hat trick, and the injury-depleted Pittsburgh Penguins peppered two Buffalo Sabres goalies in an 8-3 win on Saturday night in Pittsburgh. Jason Williams and Simon Despres both scored their first goal with Pittsburgh during the first seven minutes, and James Neal, Deryk Engelland, and Chris Kunitz added goals for the Penguins, who had lost four of five. Elsewhere: Patrik Elias scored twice and the New Jersey Devils spoiled Randy Cunneyworth's NHL coaching debut with a 5-3 win over the host Montreal Canadiens . . . . Brad Richards scored the winning goal with 0.1 seconds left as the New York Rangers beat the Phoenix Coyotes , 3-2. . . . Cody McLeod and Erik Johnson both scored their first goals of the season as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Washington Capitals , 2-1, for their fifth straight home victory.

The Sporting News is reporting it has learned that Montreal Canadiens coach Jacques Martin is in serious danger of paying for the Habs' slow start with his job. The Canadiens have lost six of their first seven games, the latest setback: a 5-4 in overtime to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. Two sources told the Sporting News that the outlook is grim for Martin, who has an 84-67-20 record as Montreal's coach since 2009, including this season's 1-4-2 stumble out of the gate.

The Flyers had every reason to be concerned about Montreal Canadiens sniper Michael Cammalleri waking up and finally tearing down the wall Michael Leighton had erected in front of his net through the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals. They might have justifiably been worried that Jaroslav Halak would rebound and continue with his stellar play in goal that got the Canadiens this far in the playoffs. But Dominic Moore? Tom Pyatt? Maxim Lapierre? The Flyers never could have imagined those three role players would have the biggest impact in leading the Canadiens to a convincing 5-1 win at the Bell Centre on Thursday night.

MONTREAL - The Flyers and Canadiens both spent time in Bell Centre on Wednesday. Montreal coach Jacques Martin held a 45-minute meeting, desperately searching for something, anything that would help his players break out in Game 3. It is hard to think about winning a series before you win a game, and it is hard to win a game if you can't even score a goal. The Flyers? They took the morning off, caught up on some sleep, then caught a charter flight in the afternoon. Coach Peter Laviolette and a handful of players swung by the arena for low-key, good-natured news conferences.

After examining the video and digesting the beating, the Canadiens have two words to sum up Sunday's Game 1 disaster: It happens. They didn't blame the refs or shower the Flyers with too much praise. The reason for the 6-0 loss, they think, lies mostly within. "I think X's and O's didn't have much to play into it," Brian Gionta said. "It's a matter of winning individual battles. It had nothing to do with getting outhit or whatnot. We just weren't prepared to play from the start.

Montreal was hoping the Flyers, coming off a one-for-the-ages, rally-from-all-but-dead victory over the Boston Bruins, would suffer an emotional letdown in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Except for some early sluggishness from the men in orange, the Canadiens pretty much found an energized, motivated-to-the-hilt club. The result Sunday night, thanks in part to the hosts' ability to cash in on two of six power-play opportunities, was a 6-0 blowout victory for the Flyers at the Wachovia Center.

Jacques Martin was ready to go. After all, the Montreal Canadiens were calling. He was hired as the Canadiens' coach yesterday, leaving his job as Florida Panthers general manager for a storied NHL franchise that was swept in the first round of the playoffs. Martin, introduced at a Bell Centre news conference, said his fourth NHL coaching job was a "tremendous opportunity. " "When you look at the players who are in the organization, there is a strong nucleus, a strong base, to build a winning team and I'm really looking forward with excitement to leading this team next year," he said.

Rick Nash scored the go-ahead goal to put Canada in the title game of the World Ice Hockey Championships with a 5-4 win over Sweden in Quebec City last night, setting up a championship showdown with Russia tomorrow. Sergei Fedorov scored the opening goal of the game and Evgeni Nabakov stopped 23 shots to lead Russia to a 4-0 win over Finland in the first game of the semifinal doubleheader. It will be the first time Canada and Russia have ever met with the world championship on the line.

Ryan Malone scored Pittsburgh's third power-play goal of the game with only 1:02 remaining and the Penguins squandered a three-goal lead against Ottawa, then rallied for a 5-3 victory last night over the Senators and a sweep of their first two home games in the Eastern Conference playoff series. Petr Sykora scored two of the three goals set up by Evgeni Malkin as the Penguins - who also blew a three-goal lead against Ottawa at home on Feb. 23 and lost 4-3 in overtime - dodged what might have been a frantic, series-changing rally by Ottawa.

There is little question that the Buffalo Sabres are the best team in the Eastern Conference right now. Take a peek at the league's scoring. Buffalo have three players in the top 15. Chris Drury is tied with Atlanta's Marian Hossa for the league lead in goals, with 10. His 14 points are tied with several players for third-best in the league. With 10 victories and no losses, the Sabres matched the 1993 Toronto Maple Leafs' NHL-record start. The Sabres fell to Atlanta in a shoot-out yesterday.