MONTREAL - Randy Cunneyworth's debut as coach of the Montreal Canadiens ended in booing from the Bell Centre crowd as Patrick Elias set a club scoring record with two goals in the New Jersey Devils' 5-3 victory on Saturday night.
Cunneyworth was promoted to head coach Saturday morning when Jacques Martin was fired in a bid to shake up the struggling team. It was also his NHL coaching debut.
The team looked decidedly more adventurous on attack than under the defence-first Martin, but it ended with the same blown lead at home that has plagued the club. Montreal is now 5-7-6 at home for the season and the fans voiced their discontent.
P.K. Subban, Chris Campoli, Lars Eller scored for Montreal (13-13-7), which went 1-2-0 on a home stand and now play six in a row on the road.
Elias passed John McLean as the Devils' all-time goal-scoring leader with his 347th and 348th, while Peter Sykora, David Clarkson and Dainius Zubrus also scored for New Jersey
Elias' second of the night broke a 3-3 tie 1:31 into the third period. After Campoli was stripped of the puck in the Montreal zone the veteran winger finished a give-and-go with Sykora, who collected the milestone puck for his linemate.
