NHL On Tap: Canucks look to complete sweep of 5-game road trip at Flyers

There are four games on the NHL schedule for Monday, including one nationally televised in the United States and Canada. Here are five things to watch today, along with the complete game schedule.

Road warriors

The Vancouver Canucks have to go through their former coach to complete a sweep of a five-game road trip that started two days after they traded their former captain. The Canucks (15-17-3) visit the Philadelphia Flyers (17-10-7) and coach Rick Tocchet, who stood behind Vancouver's bench as its head coach for two and a half years, going 108-65-27 and winning the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach in 2023-24. The Canucks are 4-0-0 in the post-Quinn Hughes era, winning the first four on a five-game road trip that ends at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, NBCSP, Prime, TVAS2). They traded Hughes to the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 12 and began the winning streak at the New Jersey Devils two days later. This will be their first game against their former coach and his team, which has one win in its past six games (1-1-4).

A chance to impress in front of Canada's coach

Not only are the St. Louis Blues looking to build on a 6-2 win at the Florida Panthers on Saturday, their matchup at the Tampa Bay Lightning (7 p.m. ET; The Spot, FDSNMW, TVAS) offers an opportunity for some of their players to audition in front of Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who will be Canada's coach for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Blues defenseman Colton Parayko, forward Robert Thomas and goalie Jordan Binnington are candidates to make Canada's Olympic team. They play in front of Canada general manager Doug Armstrong every game; Armstrong is also Blues GM. But this is their first chance to play in front of Cooper and Lightning GM Julien BriseBois, who is on Canada's Olympic management staff. The Blues (14-15-8) are also coming off one of their most complete games of the season, while the Lightning (19-13-3) ended a three-game skid (0-2-1) with a 6-4 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

Gauthier eyeing 20 goals

Cutter Gauthier needs two goals to reach 20 for the second consecutive season with the Anaheim Ducks. The 21-year-old forward has a chance to do so when the Ducks host the Seattle Kraken at Honda Center (10 p.m. ET; KHN/Prime, Victory+, KING 5, KONG, KCOP-13, TVAS). Gauthier has gone three straight games without a goal since scoring twice in a 4-1 win against the New York Rangers on Dec. 15. He leads Anaheim (21-13-2) with 18 goals in 36 games. Gauthier scored 20 goals in 82 games as a rookie last season. Similarly, center Leo Carlsson is three goals away from 20 this season; he scored 20 in 76 games last season.

Zegras hoping to stay hot for Flyers

Trevor Zegras enters Monday with a seven-game point streak for Philadelphia. The forward has nine points (five goals, four assists) during the streak, which is the longest for a Flyers player in his first season with the team since Jaromir Jagr had a seven-game point run in 2011-12. Zegras, who leads Philadelphia with 35 points (15 goals, 20 assists), can become the fourth player in Flyers history to lead the team in scoring in his first season there, joining Jeremy Roenick (2001-02, Rod Brind'Amour (1991-92) and Lou Angotti (1967-68).

Kopitar closing in on Kings record

It's a longshot for Anze Kopitar to hit a major milestone when the Los Angeles Kings take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at Crypto.com Arena (10 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, FDSNW, TVAS2). However, the Kings captain, who is in his final NHL season, could continue to move closer to both 1,300 points, and eventually the record for the most points in Kings history. Kopitar has 1,295 points (446 goals, 849 assists) in 1,484 games. He is 12 points away from tying Marcel Dionne (1,307 points) for the most in franchise history. Kopitar has 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in 30 games this season. Defenseman Zach Werenski is considered day to day for the Blue Jackets (14-15-6) with an injury he sustained blocking a shot during a 4-3 loss to the Ducks on Saturday. Werenski is tied for the NHL lead among defensemen with 14 goals and is second in points (40).

The schedule

St. Louis Blues at Tampa Bay Lightning (7 p.m. ET; The Spot, FDSNMW, TVAS)

Vancouver Canucks at Philadelphia Flyers (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, NBCSP, Prime, TVAS2)

Seattle Kraken at Anaheim Ducks (10 p.m. ET; KHN/Prime, Victory+, KING 5, KONG, KCOP-13, TVAS)

Columbus Blue Jackets at Los Angeles Kings (10 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, FDSNW, TVAS2)