Max Pacioretty was visibly upset at the end of the Canadiens' 3-1 loss to Buffalo Tuesday night, but said his anger was not related to anything the Sabres' Paul Gaustad might have said in the waning moments of the game.

"You guys make too much of these things; it's not really a story," Pacioretty said. "I was upset because we lost the game."

For those who came in late, Gaustad made a reference to the hit by Boston's Zdeno Chara on Pacioretty that brought his 2010-11 season to a premature halt. The war of words escalated when several Canadiens wondered why Gaustad didn't come to the defence of Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller when he was run over by the Bruins' Milan Lucic this season.

"You guys should be down on the ice; you hear worse than that all the time," said Pacioretty, who admitted he has engaged in some trash talk of his own.

That wasn't the only admission Pacioretty made as the Canadiens prepared to travel to Newark, where they will face the New Jersey Devils Thursday (7 p.m., RDS, TSN-HABS, TSN Radio-990). While he scored the Canadiens' goal and accounted for a game-high eight shots, Pacioretty included himself in the group of players who came up short against the Sabres.

"When I'm playing my game, I'm driving to the net and finding space in front of the net, and I wasn't always doing that," Pacioretty said.

He added a lack of intensity might have led to a missed opportunity to tie the game in the third period.

"(Tomas) Kaberle put a perfect pass on my stick," he explained. "Maybe if I bear down on that a little more, I get the tying goal."

Head coach Randy Cunneyworth is willing to cut Pacioretty and linemates David Desharnais and Erik Cole some slack because they understand what they have to do to be successful. Cunneyworth added when they get a step on a defender, they take advantage of it and go hard to the net.

"When you do that, you get chances and you draw penalties, which is one thing we have to do more of," the coach said. "And we need more guys to do it. These aren't the only guys we have with speed."

There will be at least one lineup change Thursday. Andreas Engqvist was returned to Hamilton of the American Hockey League after Tuesday's game and Louis Leblanc was called up. Leblanc will join the Canadiens on Wednesday in New Jersey and Cunneyworth said he wasn't sure whether he would play centre or on the wing, but added he expected the 2009 firstround draft choice to provide a boost.

"He's been playing well in Hamilton, and he showed when he was up here earlier that he's a good two-way hockey player," Cunneyworth said.

The Canadiens are in desperate need of points in the hope to stay in the playoff race. The loss Tuesday dropped them nine points behind eighth-place Toronto and 10 points behind seventh place New Jersey.

The Devils have some personnel issues of their own, with centres Travis Zajac and Adam Henrique out with injuries. That means Dainus Zubrus, a natural right winger, will centre the top line with Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise.

New Jersey welcomed defenceman Adam Greene back to the lineup for Tuesday's 4-3 shootout win over the New York Rangers, but Henrik Tallinder - the workhorse of the defence - is out for six to eight weeks.

The Canadiens will be back at the Bell Centre for the traditional Super Bowl weekend matinées. They play the Washington Capitals on Saturday and the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, with both games starting at 2 p.m.