Columbus fires head coach after rough start

Gerard Gallant was fired as the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday, less than 24 hours after the team dropped into last place in its division.

No replacement for Gallant was named. Columbus next plays at home Wednesday night against Nashville.

The 43-year-old Gallant had a record of 56-76-10 in one full season and parts of two others as the head coach of the Blue Jackets. The team fell to 5-9-1-0 this season and to last place in the Central Division of the Western Conference after Sunday night’s 1-0 loss at Chicago.

Gallant’s firing was announced by general manager Doug MacLean, who also has come under fire because the franchise has yet to make it to the playoffs in its first five seasons.

MacLean called a news conference for Tuesday morning to discuss the job. The team’s top two assistants are Gary Agnew and Gord Murphy, should MacLean seek a short-term solution.

On the ice

Capitals 4, Panthers 1: At Sunrise, Fla., Dainius Zubrus scored two goals and Olaf Kolzig stopped 44 shots as Washington beat Florida.

Alexander Ovechkin and Matt Pettinger also scored for Washington. Ovechkin has six goals in his last five games.

Canadiens 5, Senators 3: At Ottawa, Guillaume Latendresse scored power-play goals 31 seconds apart in the third period and Montreal held on for a victory over struggling Ottawa.

Latendresse, a 19-year-old rookie, scored his second goal of the season 2:01 into the final period on a 5-on-3 advantage to put Montreal up 2-1. He added his second of the game at 2:32 when he deflected Sheldon Souray’s shot from the point past Martin Gerber to make it 4-1.

Penguins 3, Flyers 2: At Pittsburgh, Evgeni Malkin scored with 2:03 to play and Pittsburgh snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over Philadelphia.

Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal also scored for the Penguins, who beat the Flyers for the third time this season.

Sabres 7, Hurricanes 4: At Raleigh, Buffalo improved to 10-0 on the road this season, getting a go-ahead goal from Adam Mair in the third period to beat Carolina.

The Sabres extended their NHL record for most consecutive road wins at the start of a season.

Oilers 2, Avalanche 1: At Denver, Ryan Smyth scored twice in a 1:53 span in the second period – including Edmonton’s first short-handed goal of the season – and Dwayne Roloson had 32 saves to lead Edmonton to a victory over Colorado.

The Oilers were one of just four teams without a short-handed goal before Monday night.

Kings 4, Sharks 2: At Los Angeles, Dustin Brown scored the go-ahead goal on a power play with 3:10 left in the third period and Los Angeles beat San Jose Sharks.

Alexander Frolov had two goals and an assist, and Lubomir Visnovski had a goal to help the Kings win for only the fourth time in their last 17 games.