MONTREAL - Where was the desperation?

That’s what goaltender Carey Price was asking Tuesday night after the Canadiens dropped a 3-1 decision to the Buffalo Sabres at the Bell Centre.

“I didn’t think we were desperate enough in the second period,” Price said after he turned in a 37-save performance. “We picked it up in the third period, but we have to do that more throughout the game.”

The Canadiens came on with a rush as they outshot the Sabres 11-3 over the final 13:43, but it was as much a case of the Sabres holding on to a 2-1 lead as the Canadiens stepping up their game.

But Price stressed that he didn’t feel his teammates let him down.

“This is a team game and you win and lose as a team, and everybody could have played better,” Price said. “I could have been better on the two goals I let in.”

Canadiens head coach Randy Cunneyworth was at odds to explain why his team came out flat after beating Detroit 7-2 in the final game before the all-star break.

“It was a huge disappointment,” he said of Tuesday’s game. “We wanted a better result, but you have to go out there and earn it. They worked hard. They won a lot of races and outbattled us in a lot of cases.”

Cunneyworth said Price was partly right when he talked about the lack of desperation from the Canadiens.

“We had a handful of guys with that desperation, but we didn’t have enough guys,” Cunneyworth said. “On the other side, they had more guys with that deperatation.”

Cunneyworth praised his goaltender.

“Pricer was unbelievable,” he said. “He kept us in the game for as long as he could.”

The deciding goal was scored by Paul Gaustad, who was in front of the net to deflect a centring pass from Brad Boyes at 6:17.

“I don’t think he even saw the puck,” Price said. “He just stuck his stick out.”

That’s the kind of play Cunneyworth wants to see more of from the Canadiens.

“Obviously, there are simple plays like throwing the puck through the crease - the things we did (last Thursday against Detroit) that we didn’t do tonight,” Cunneyworth said. “Those are the simple things we have to do. Those are the dirty goals we have to get.

Cunneyworth noted Erik Cole and Max Pacioretty, who scored the lone Montreal goal, are among the players who go hard to the net.

“We need that from more players,” the coach said. “When you have the guys who take the puck to the net and drive hard and in this league, when they give you the penalty if you get tripped, we need more wingers who do that. More guys have to learn from (Cole).”

The Canadiens and the Sabres have had some fierce battles over the years, but Tuesday’s game was a rather tame affair with six minor penalties. But there was a war of words as the game wound down.

Price described Gaustad as a “guy who likes to run his mouth” and the Buffalo player reportedly asked Pacioretty: “Where’s Chara?” That was a reference to Boston defenceman Zdeno Chara’s hit that ended Pacioretty’s season last spring.

But the Canadiens got in a few verbal barbs of their own when they asked why Gaustad didn’t stand up earlier this year when Boston’s Milan Lucic ran over Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller.

phickey@montrealgazette.com