Montreal Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme gave an honest assessment of his team's play after their 6-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.

“Tonight, we were just bad,” Ducharme said. “Everyone needs to go through it but tonight we were just bad. I can stand here and try to analyze every play but we were bad.”

The Canadiens saw their current winless skid extended to four games as they allowed five or more goals for the eighth time this season. With Carey Price and Jake Allen sidelined, Cayden Primeau got the start against Pittsburgh and allowed five goals on 31 shots in 40 minutes of work. Samuel Montembeault took over for the third period, turning aside 11 of 12 shots as the Canadiens were outshot 43-24 on the night.

Montreal has the second-worst goal differential in the league at minus-29, ahead of only the last-place Arizona Coyotes.

With Thursday's loss, the Canadiens record now sits at 4-13-2, just months after reaching the Stanley Cup Final last season.

"We have a lot of games and a lot of road to go," Canadiens defenceman Ben Chiarot said. "We have a game a day from now, so park this one and get ready for the next one."

The Canadiens will host the Nashville Predators on Saturday as they wrap up a two-game homestand before heading out on a three-game road trip that includes a stop in Pittsburgh next Saturday.