Canadiens at Canucks preview

CANADIENS (15-12-6) at CANUCKS (16-14-4)
10 p.m. ET; SNP, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV

Price and Ward are tied with 334 NHL victories. Price has played 650 League games; Ward, who retired on Aug. 28, played 701. Price is 3-1-0 with a 1.51 goals-against average and .944 save percentage in his past four starts for the Canadiens.
Montreal is 3-1-0 in its past four games after going 1-6-3 in its previous 10.
Canucks defenseman Jordie Benn will face the Canadiens for the first time since signing a two-year contract with Vancouver on July 1. Benn, who has six assists in 34 games, played the past three seasons for Montreal.
Goalie Jacob Markstrom will make his fifth straight start for the Canucks, who are 4-6-0 in their past 10 games.

Players to watch

Canadiens forward Tomas Tatar has five points (three goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak and has scored a goal in three straight games.
Canucks forward Brock Boeser has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past seven games.

They said it

"It makes it special, it makes it fun, this whole trip. You only get to play in front of your family and friends one time, so you better make it good." -- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher, one of four players returning to their home province of British Columbia to begin a four-game trip through western Canada
"Any kid dreams about playing for their home team so when you get a chance, you've got to take it. I miss Montreal, miss the boys there, but it's one of those decisions, just a life choice." -- Canucks defenseman Jordie Benn on facing his former teammates for the first time

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen -- Max Domi -- Joel Armia
Nick Cousins -- Nick Suzuki -- Jordan Weal
Ryan Poehling -- Nate Thompson -- Riley Barber
Ben Chiarot -- Shea Weber
Brett Kulak -- Jeff Petry
Mike Reilly -- Cale Fleury
Carey Price
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Christian Folin, Lukas Vejdemo
Injured: Jonathan Drouin (wrist), Paul Byron (knee), Victor Mete (ankle), Matthew Peca (leg), Jesperi Kotkaniemi (concussion)

Canucks projected lineup

J.T. Miller -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser
Tanner Pearson -- Bo Horvat -- Josh Leivo
Antoine Roussel -- Adam Gaudette -- Jake Virtanen
Tyler Motte -- Jay Beagle -- Brandon Sutter
Jordie Benn -- Chris Tanev
Quinn Hughes -- Tyler Myers
Oscar Fantenberg -- Troy Stecher
Jacob Markstrom
Michael DiPietro
Scratched: Loui Eriksson, Jalen Chatfield, Tim Schaller
Injured: Thatcher Demko (concussion), Micheal Ferland (upper body), Alexander Edler (upper body), Tyler Graovac (lower body)

Status report

Reilly, who has been a healthy scratch the previous eight games, takes the place of defenseman Otto Leskinen, who was sent to Laval of the American Hockey League on Saturday. … Kotkaniemi and Mete each practiced Monday and Tuesday in non-contact jerseys and are day to day. … Schaller is a healthy scratch for the second straight game after no points in his past 22.

Stat pack

Danault has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past six games. … Gallagher has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his past six games. … Virtanen has scored in consecutive games.