Canucks at Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens could have their star goaltender back in the crease when they host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Carey Price, who hasn't played since Dec. 22 due to a lower-body injury, practiced on Wednesday and hopes to be on the ice when the Canadiens begin their three-game homestand.
"I'll see how things go on Thursday," Price, who also was selected to represent Montreal in this month's All-Star Game on Wednesday, told the team's website after practice. "We'll see how I recover tonight. If everything goes well, I should be able to play." The Canadiens concluded a 4-2-0 road trip Monday with a 3-2 overtime win in Dallas as Phillip Danault scored his second goal of the game midway through the third period to forge a tie before defenseman Jeff Petry tallied 14 seconds into the extra session. Vancouver is coming off a 4-3 victory at Ottawa on Wednesday in which rookie Elias Pettersson completed his first career hat trick 1:38 into overtime. The 20-year-old Swede has scored five of his team-leading 22 goals over his last four games for the Canucks, who are 3-1-0 on their six-game road trip and 6-1-1 in their last eight away from home.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver), TSN2, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (20-19-4): The hat trick against the Senators capped a huge day for Pettersson, who was named the NHL's Rookie of the Month for December and selected to represent Vanouver in the All-Star Game prior to the victory. He is the youngest in franchise history and just the third rookie to receive the honor as he leads all first-year players in the NHL in a plethora of categories, including goals, assists (20), points, power-play tallies (six) and game-winners (seven). Defenseman Alex Edler notched three assists on Wednesday for his fourth multi-point performance in eight games.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (21-14-5): Joel Armia also could be back in the lineup Thursday after missing the team's last 25 games with a right knee injury. The 25-year-old Finn, who also practiced on Wednesday, has notched three goals and four assists in 15 games but hasn't played since Nov. 6. Armia could take the place of fellow right wing Andrew Shaw, who exited the win over the Stars with an upper-body injury.
OVERTIME
1. Danault has scored five of his seven goals on the season over his last four games and collected nine points in his last five contests.
2. Vancouver acquired LW Tom Pyatt and G Mike McKenna, who served as the backup on Wednesday, along with a 2019 sixth-round draft pick from Ottawa for G Anders Nilsson and RW Darren Archibald prior to their matchup.
3. Montreal scored first in each contest of its season-high six-game road trip.