Julien calls Habs' play 'unacceptable' after Red Wings sweep season series

Claude Julien was understandably fed up with his team after it was swept in its season series against one of the worst NHL teams of the modern era.

The Montreal Canadiens bench boss expressed his frustration following Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the lowly Detroit Red Wings, a contest in which the Canadiens blew a 3-1 third-period lead.

"We can't seem to play a good game for a full 60 minutes," Julien told reporters postgame. "It's frustrating and it's unacceptable. If you want to be a winning team, you have to be able to play the same way for 60 minutes. We haven't been doing that lately.

"If we keep on playing the same way we played during the first two periods, we'll win the game. But we weren't able to do that."

Andreas Athanasiou scored twice in the final frame, and Mike Green also tallied to lift the basement-dwelling Red Wings to a victory and a four-game season sweep of the Canadiens.

"There's clearly a lack of confidence," Julien added. "Regardless of what we say on the bench, we seem to be playing on our heels. We watch the other team skate instead of being proactive. We have to get more from certain players."

Montreal is now 10 points out of a wild-card spot with 20 games remaining. The Canadiens have five teams to leapfrog in order to move into the final wild-card berth.