Joe Snively scored his first two NHL goals and the Washington Capitals won 5-2 at Montreal on Thursday night, spoiling the debut of new Canadiens interim coach Martin St. Louis.

Connor McMichael, Carl Hagelin and Tom Wilson also scored for Washington, which had lost four of its previous six games. Justin Schultz and Evgeny Kuznetsov had two assists apiece, and Ilya Samsonov made 42 saves.

Rem Pitlick and Cole Caufield scored for the Canadiens, who have lost eight in a row (0-6-2) and 14 of 15 (1-10-4). Cayden Primeau was lifted in the second period after allowing four goals on 14 shots. Sam Montembeault took over and stopped eight shots he faced.

On Wednesday, the Canadiens dismissed coach Dominique Ducharme and named St. Louis the interim boss. Montreal, which advanced to the Stanley Cup Final a year ago, has two wins in its past 23 games (2-16-5).

The Capitals were without Alex Ovechkin, who returned from the COVID-19 protocol Tuesday against Columbus. He could not travel to Montreal because Quebec requires a 10-day isolation period for those who test positive.

Washington led 4-1 before Caufield scored on a power play at 15:58 of the second period.

Caufield appeared to pull the Canadiens within 4-3 at 14:51 of the third, but the Capitals challenged, and after a video review, the play was ruled offside.

Wilson scored into an empty net at 18:45 for the 5-2 final. Snively picked up the assist.

Snively, a 26-year-old rookie playing his sixth NHL game, made it 1-0 at 5:04 of the first period when he scored off the rebound of Schultz's shot.

Just 20 seconds later, McMichael increased the lead to 2-0 when he received a pass in the high slot and swept the puck past Primeau.

Hagelin ended a 14-game goal drought when he skated in along the left boards and beat Primeau from a sharp angle to make it 3-0 at 3:40 of the second period.

Pitlick knocked in a loose puck in front of the net to pull the Canadiens within 3-1 at 4:09 of the middle period.

Snively made it 4-1 when he took a pass from Kuznetsov, cut into the slot and scored on a wrist shot at 5:18 of the second, ending Primeau's night.

--Field Level Media