The Montreal Canadiens fired coach Claude Julien on Saturday, with general manager Bob Gainey taking over on an interim basis and Guy Carbonneau slated to become coach at the season's end.
The Canadiens got off to a strong 12-3 start this season under Julien before losing 18 of their last 25 games.
"We have to push back so that we're moving up the standings by putting points on the board, rather than the other direction," Gainey said at a news conference.
Carbonneau said the decision to return to Montreal, where he was an assistant from 2000-2002, was an easy one despite the fact he won't take over until next season.
"I really enjoyed the experience when I came here five years ago, being behind the bench with [then-coach] Michel Therrien," said Carbonneau, who has no head coaching experience and was in his third season as an assistant GM with Dallas. "I couldn't wait for a second chance to come back in a different position."
He is replacing assistant coach Rick Green, who was fired along with Julien.
Gainey and Carbonneau, who played together in Montreal and worked together in Dallas, agreed to defer Carbonneau's appointment so he could develop a relationship with the players before taking over.
"I've been gone from here for three years," Carbonneau said. "I don't know a lot of the players that are here, so I think it would have been unfair for me to come in and try to control everything from the start."
Gainey said it wasn't necessary for Carbonneau to make his head coaching debut in the midst of a tumultuous season.
"There really was no reason to drop him into a pot of boiling water when we can drop him in and warm it up gently," Gainey said. "Guy will grab on to where we are and where we're going and what is needed quickly."
Gainey was on the ice for the team's morning skate to prepare for the Canadiens' game Saturday night against the San Jose Sharks.
"The team needed something," defenseman Craig Rivet said. "I think we're slowly sliding in the wrong direction.
Still, Rivet added, "none of us expected this at all."
Julien was hired for his first NHL head coaching job on Jan. 17, 2003. The former NHL defenseman helped the Canadiens reach the second round of the playoffs in 2003-2004.
Green had been an assistant coach with Montreal since 2000.
"The coach is our boss and he makes everyone accountable and if it doesn't happen, like in any job, the guy in charge pays the price," team captain Saku Koivu said. "But it's always unfortunate when it happens."
The 52-year-old Gainey, who played for Montreal from 1973-1989, became coach of the Minnesota North Stars in 1990 and acted as coach and GM from 1992-1996. He was then general manager of the Minnesota/Dallas franchise until he joined the Canadiens as GM in 2003.
Alex Tanguay scored with 45.8 seconds left in overtime to help Colorado spoil Peter Forsberg's first game against his former NHL team in the Avalanche's 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
The Flyers forced overtime with a frantic final 2 minutes of regulation, getting goals from Mike Knuble and Forsberg before becoming dominated in the extra period.
The Avalanche took nine of their 34 shots in overtime and held the Flyers without a shot.
John-Michael Liles, Brett Clark and Antti Laaksonen also scored for the Avalanche, who've won seven straight games for the first time since January 2001.
Red Wings 4, Rangers 3
At Detroit, Brendan Shanahan's second goal of the game snapped a third-period tie and Detroit broke the New York Rangers' streak of seven games in which they earned at least a point.
Robert Lang and Johan Franzen also scored for the Red Wings.
Jaromir Jagr scored his league-leading 29th goal. Michael Nylander and Jed Ortmeyer also had goals for the Rangers.
Stars 2, Bruins 1, SO
At Boston, Jussi Jokinen scored the only goal of the shootout to lift Dallas to their season-high sixth straight win.
Stars goalie Marty Turco made 26 stops before turning aside Patrice Bergeron, Marco Sturm and Sergei Samsonov in the shootout.
Boston goaltender Tim Thomas, making his first start since April 2003, made 37 saves before the shootout. The Stars improved to 5-0 in shootouts, while the Bruins dropped to 0-3.
Canadiens 6, Sharks 2
At Montreal, Andrei Markov had two goals and two assists in a six-goal second period to help Montreal general manager Bob Gainey win in his Canadiens coaching debut.
Markov and Chris Higgins scored short-handed goals and Markov also had one of Montreal's four power-play goals in the second.
Jose Theodore made 23 saves and Swiss defenseman Mark Streit scored his first NHL goal and added an assist. Jan Bulis and Mike Ribeiro also scored.
Grant Stevenson and Jonathan Cheechoo scored for San Jose, which ended a five-game winning streak that fell one short of its longest of the season.
Canucks 8, Islanders 1
At Uniondale, Todd Bertuzzi scored twice on Vancouver's first three shots en route to his fifth career hat trick and the Canucks chased New York goalie Rick DiPietro with three second-period goals.
New York lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
Anson Carter added two goals for Vancouver, and Bryan Allen, Henrik Sedin and Jarkko Ruutu also scored. Alexei Zhitnik scored for New York.
Coyotes 4, Maple Leafs 3
At Toronto, Paul Mara, Geoff Sanderson, Ladislav Nagy and Fredrik Sjostrom scored goals to help Phoenix overcome a three-goal, first-period deficit.
Wayne Gretzky coached his first game in Toronto, and former Maple Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph, playing his first in Toronto since leaving in 2002, made 25 saves. Gretzky and his father, Walter, received loud ovations when shown on the videoboard.
Toronto's Jason Allison, Carlo Colaiacovo and Tomas Kaberle scored power-play goals in the first period.
Sabres 10, Kings 1
At Buffalo, New York, Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville scored three goals apiece for Buffalo in the Sabres' highest-scoring game in almost 13 years.
Chris Drury had a goal and three assists, Ales Kotalik had a goal and two assists, and Jay McKee and Daniel Paille also scored. Tim Connolly and Mike Grier had three assists each for Buffalo, which built a 5-0 lead 17 minutes in.
The three goals were career highs for both Hecht and Pominville, who scored three straight goals for a natural hat trick. He had two power-play goals and also scored on a short-handed breakaway. Hecht also had an assist.
Blue Jackets 5, Panthers 4
At Sunrise, Florida, David Vyborny scored a power-play goal with 12 seconds left in overtime, and Pascal Leclaire made 48 saves for Columbus.
Florida tied it with 47 seconds left in regulation when Nathan Horton deflected a shot by Jay Bouwmeester.
Flames 4, Wild 1
At St. Paul, Minnesota, Jarome Iginla scored early in the third period to help Calgary snap a three-game losing streak.
Daymond Langkow, Kristian Huselius and Tony Amonte also scored for the Flames, who lost the first three games of their four-game trip after winning four in a row at home. Kurtis Foster scored for Minnesota, 1-3 on its seven-game homestand.
Senators 5, Oilers 3
At Edmonton, Alberta, Vaclav Varada scored twice and Dany Heatley added his team-leading 28th goal for Ottawa.
Antoine Vermette and Peter Schaefer also scored to help the Senators tie Philadelphia and Detroit for the NHL lead with 63 points. Ottawa, coming off a 2-0 home loss to San Jose on Thursday night, had lost four of its last six games.
Marc-Andre Bergeron scored all three goals for the Oilers.
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