Too many turnovers, too many outnumbered attacks. That was the difference Monday night in the Avalanche's 4-3 loss to Montreal at the Pepsi Center.

Max Pacioretty's goal on a 2-on-1 rush with 6:06 left in the third period broke a 3-3 tie as the Avalanche, now 5-6-2 at home and 9-11-5 overall, once again failed to reach the .500 mark. It sure doesn't seem like that's ever going to happen this season, not that a .500 record will be good enough to make the playoffs.

The injury-ravaged Avalanche made far too many mistakes to beat a Canadiens team that is battling with Tampa Bay for the best record in the Atlantic Division and first overall in the NHL. Montreal and Tampa Bay each have 36 points, but the Lightning have played one fewer game.

The Canadiens find ways to win close games and the Avalanche find ways to lose them. Montreal is 8-1-2 in one-goal games, the Avalanche 6-5-5.

The Canadiens were able to mount an outnumbered attack for the winning goal because Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson pinched in the Montreal end and center Nathan MacKinnon didn't cover for him.

"You can't lose games like this at the end of the game," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "Our game management needs to be a lot better. Our guys know that if the D pinch they have to be there for them, they have to take over as a defenseman. We gave up three 2-on-1s in that sequence. Yes, we want to be an offensive team. Yes, we want to go, but we have to think a little better. And some of our guys on the top two lines didn't perform at the level we need to win the hockey game."

MacKinnon had one shot on goal, Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay didn't have any.

Pacioretty beat rookie goalie Calvin Pickard to the far side with a shot from the left circle with Jan Hejda the lone Avalanche defender back.

"It was a great shot by a great player," said Pickard, who made 26 saves in what could have been his final game with the Avalanche. Semyon Varlamov is expected to be activated from injured reserve Wednesday and start Thursday in Calgary, and the Avalanche won't keep three goalies. No decision has been made yet, but Reto Berra, despite his recent struggles, is likely to remain as Varlamov's backup with Pickard heading back to Lake Erie in the AHL to play a ton and continue his development.

"I've been playing pretty well and I really wanted to get that to overtime at the very least," Pickard said. "Definitely a good shot, but I definitely would have liked to make the save for the team."

The Avalanche took 2-1 and 3-2 leads in the second period but couldn't hold them.

P.K. Subban blasted a shot from the left point that eluded Pickard low to the far corner to make it 3-3 after Lars Eller won a faceoff from Max Talbot, who broke his stick on the draw. Andrei Markov scored a power-play goal on a back door play.

"I didn't read it very well," Pickard said of Markov's goal. "I went down a little bit on the post and the guy made a good pass back door, but if I'm on my feet I have a better chance to make that save. The Subban shot, it's a great shot but I need to come up with that save. I lost it. I need to follow that puck better."

The Avalanche got second-period goals from Ryan O'Reilly and Tyson Barrie. O'Reilly finished off some nice work from linemates Tanguay and Matt Duchene, and Barrie scored on a 4-on-1 rush that became a 4-on-2.

Duchene had goalie Carey Price (26 saves) beaten in the second period but his shot rang off two posts.

Daniel Briere, who was acquired from the Canadiens over the summer in exchange for PA Parenteau and a 2015 fifth-round draft pick, tied the game 1-1 with 33.5 seconds remaining in the first period. He took the puck away from defenseman Mike Weaver in the corner, skated into the slot and fired the puck by Price's right arm for his fourth goal in the past six games.

"I got a good bounce, I was able to keep it alive and walk in," Briere said. "I think Carey -- just shooting on him last year (in practice) -- he thought I was going glove side. That's usually where I would shoot on him and I surprised him when the shot went the other way."

Montreal's Jiri Sekac opened the scoring with a shot from the left circle while on the rush. The Canadiens were outscored 21-7 in the first period in their first 25 games.

*****

The Avalanche had one power play, which came at 5:53 of the third period. Duchene was driving to the net with 1:32 to go on the man advantage when Alexei Emelin took him down, sending him crashing into the net. No penalty was called.

The Canadiens swept the season series. They won 3-2 on Oct. 18 in Montreal, also beating Pickard, who made 33 saves in that game ... Barrie has taken over the Avalanche scoring lead with 19 points (three goals, 16 assists) in 25 games ... Colin Smith, called up from Lake Erie on Sunday, made his NHL debut for the Avalanche. He played 6:06 centering the fourth line, had one shot and lost six of 10 faceoffs ... Michael Sgarbossa, also summoned Sunday, centered the third line, played 10:51, had two shots and won two of four draws ... Parenteau had two shots and he blocked two shots.

The Avalanche play their next two games Thursday and Friday in Calgary and Winnipeg, respectively. The next home game is Dec. 9 against Nashville.



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