Article content

BUFFALO — The Canadiens looked like they ran out of gas Thursday night, losing 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabres and getting outshot 42-22 with Kyle Okposo scoring the winner on a power play with 1:01 left on the clock.

But that’s not the way Canadiens coach Claude Julien saw it.

“They outcompeted us,” Julien said. “I’m not going to say our guys didn’t work, but they outcompeted us. They won a lot of battles along the walls, way more than usual. In our own end, we had to do a better job of killing plays and getting the puck out. We didn’t do a good job of that. They were on pucks quicker than we were on a lot of occasions. But even so, for a road game we were still in the game with a chance to win or at least come out with a point and we blew it. It’s our own fault.”

The Canadiens got two goals from Max Domi and a single from Joel Armia, while Jason Pominville scored twice for the Sabres and Sam Reinhart also scored. Armia was in the penalty box for tripping when Okposo scored the winner.