OTTAWA -- Jacques Martin coached his first home game for the Ottawa Senators in nearly 20 years when they hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN360, CITY, NHLN, SN-PIT).
"What I like about this challenge, to me, it's not about my first time here. To me, it's about this new team," Martin said following the morning skate. "It's about making sure that this team has an opportunity to make history. You learn from your past experience, whether it's here or the other jobs I've had over my career, and try to bring the information, try to bring some guidance, try to bring some direction to our new group. But what I'm looking forward to is making some history with this group."
Martin, who became interim coach when D.J. Smith was fired Dec. 18, hadn't coached a home game for the Senators since April 18, 2004, a 2-1 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The Maple Leafs won Game 7 in Toronto.
Martin, who had a franchise-record 341 wins with Ottawa from 1996-2004, lost his first two games in his return as coach this week on a western road trip. The Senators (11-17-0) have lost six straight and are last in the Eastern Conference. Still, the 71-year-old was encouraged by tweaks to the team's neutral-zone strategy and forecheck in a 6-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.
"I want us to become a pressure team," Martin said. "I want to be a team that's going to spend more time in the offensive zone versus the defensive zone."
Plenty has changed at Canadian Tire Centre, then called Corel Centre, since 2004. Martin says the configuration of his office is entirely different and the players' gym has been significantly expanded, but the video room, a favorite of his, has "luckily" remained the same. And he'll rely greatly on that familiar setup in the months to come.
"The challenge is that we have very few practices because of the number of games that we'll be playing," Martin said. "So, a lot of the adjustments, a lot of the changes that we have to make, we have to make them through video, so it's a lot more difficult. But I'm really excited and encouraged by the group, how receptive [they are]."
Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk said Martin has the team "playing a little more detailed."
"I know he's super confident in us as a group in what we've been doing," Tkachuk said. "All it takes is one [win] and then it can go the other way where we could win six in a row just like that."
Despite the team's recent struggles, Martin is sure to receive a hero's welcome from the fans Saturday. He is widely revered in Ottawa after coaching the Senators to eight consecutive Stanley Cup Playoff appearances from 1997-2004.
In 1,296 games as an NHL coach with the Senators, St. Louis Blues, Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens, Martin is 613-483-81 with 119 ties.
It's fitting his first game back in Ottawa was against Pittsburgh; Martin was an assistant for Penguins coach Mike Sullivan when they won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017.
"Jacques is one of the smartest hockey guys that I've been around," Sullivan said. "He's just a great voice of reason. He's an astute hockey guy, he's evolved with the game, his work ethic is terrific, but he brings a level of professionalism and organizational skills that I think will be felt immediately [in Ottawa].
"I can't say enough about him. I think so highly of him as a coach. I think even more highly of him as a person."
