Vancouver @ Montreal preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 17, 2019 ) Montreal 3, Vancouver 1

Coming off one of the best offensive performance the NHL has seen this season, the Vancouver Canucks will embark on a four-game road trip that begins Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens. Seven players registered multi-point efforts for the Canucks Saturday as they skated past the Bruins 9-3 - the third team this season to register nine goals in a game (Colorado and Tampa Bay).

The Canucks made their big splash on the trade market last week when they acquired former Los Angeles Kings forward Tyler Toffoli, who has already made a good impression with his new teammates by notching four points through his first two games with Vancouver. “Everybody, I feel, is just a genuine really good guy and wants each other to do well,” Toffoli told reporters after netting a pair of goals against Boston. “I scored the seventh goal and guys were happy for me. That’s the vibe it is. Everybody wants to win. Everybody wants to do well. We just have to keep building and keep having fun.” The Canadiens entered Monday’s trade deadline eight points out of a playoff spot and were predictably active as they shipped out forwards Ilya Kovalchuk to Washington, Nick Cousins to Vegas and Nate Thompson to Philadelphia in exchange for mid-round draft picks. “Just to say now that I got to play for the Montreal Canadiens in my lifetime, that’s a feather in the cap,” Thompson, who will join his eighth NHL team, told reporters Monday after spending 88 of his 760 career games with the Canadiens. “When you come to Montreal, you realize what the city is all about and how they feel about the Habs. This is definitely a spot that I would tell guys to come.”

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: TSN2, RDS, Sportsnet Pacific

ABOUT THE CANUCKS (33-22-6): Vancouver had eight different goal scorers Saturday including second-year phenom Elias Pettersson, who became the third player in franchise history to record 25 goals in each of his first two NHL seasons joining Rick Blight (1975-77) and Pavel Bure (1991-93). Defenseman Quinn Hughes continues to impress during his freshman campaign as he leads all first-year players with 49 points and, with a pair of helpers against the Bruins, became the 14th rookie blueliner in NHL history to record 40 assists in a season. Forward J.T. Miller continued his breakout season Saturday as the 26-year-old, whose 24 goals and 38 assists are already career highs, notched three helpers against Boston - his 17th multi-point effort of the season.

ABOUT THE CANADIENS (29-27-8): Goaltender Carey Price made 30 saves to record his fourth shutout of the season, and 48th of his career, as Montreal earned a 3-0 victory against Ottawa on Saturday. Max Domi snapped a nine-game goal drought with a pair of markers Saturday, and in doing so he surpassed his father Tie’s career point total (Max has 79 goals and 247 points in 368 games while Tie had 104 goals and 245 points in 1,020 career games). Right wing Paul Byron has a goal and two assists in three games since returning from a knee injury that cost him over three months of action while his goal against the Senators Saturday was his second of the season and first since Nov. 5.

OVERTIME

1. Canucks D Troy Stecher registered a goal and two assists Saturday - his first three-point outing in 278 career games.

2. Montreal has an NHL-high 22 unassisted goals.

3. The last time Vancouver scored nine goals in a game prior to Saturday was Jan. 6, 1996 against Tampa Bay.

PREDICTION: Canucks 3, Canadiens 1