Canucks at Canadiens preview

CANUCKS (20-19-4) at CANADIENS (21-14-5)
7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, SNP, NHL.TV

Price, who was named to the NHL All-Star Game on Monday, missed Montreal's three-game road trip because of a lower-body injury.
The Canadiens, who went 2-1-0 without Price, will look for their fifth win in six games; they are 4-1-0 in their past five games and 9-4-0 in their past 13.
The Canucks will try for their 10th victory in 14 games; they are 9-3-1 in their past 13. Goalie Jacob Markstrom could start and would play in his 200th NHL game; he's 9-1-0 with a 1.79 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in his past 10 starts.

Players to watch

Canucks center Elias Petersson, named to the NHL All-Star Game on Wednesday, has six points (five goals, one assist) in his past four games and leads NHL rookie scorers with 42 points (22 goals, 20 assists).
Canadiens forward Tomas Tatar has seven points (two goals, five assists) in a four-game point streak.

They said it

"These last couple games … he had that look that he's just getting better." -- Canucks coach Travis Green on center Elias Pettersson
"As a team I think they've flown under the radar a little bit. You know, I don't think people were quite ready for them. I give [Canucks coach] Travis Green a lot of credit with his staff. They've done a good job of getting that group together and playing a really sound game." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien

Canucks projected lineup

Loui Eriksson -- Bo Horvat -- Antoine Roussel
Josh Leivo -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser
Sven Baertschi -- Markus Granlund -- Jake Virtanen
Tim Schaller -- Jay Beagle -- Tyler Motte
Alexander Edler -- Chris Tanev
Ben Hutton -- Erik Gudbranson
Troy Stecher -- Derrick Pouliot
Jacob Markstrom
Mike McKenna
Scratched: Michael Del Zotto, Alex Biega, Tom Pyatt , Nikolay Goldobin
Injured: Brandon Sutter (shoulder)

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin -- Max Domi -- Paul Byron
Artturi Lehkonen -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Joel Armia
Kenny Agostino -- Michael Chaput -- Nicolas Deslauriers
Victor Mete -- Shea Weber
Mike Reilly -- Jeff Petry
Brett Kulak -- Jordie Benn
Carey Price
Antti Niemi
Scratched: Matthew Peca, Charles Hudon, Karl Alzner
Injured: Andrew Shaw (neck), David Schlemko (upper body)

Status report

The Canucks did not hold a morning skate. … Leivo was to be re-evaluated Thursday after leaving in the first period in Ottawa because of an upper-body injury. … Armia returns after missing 25 games with a knee injury. … Shaw is suffering headaches because of a neck injury he sustained in Montreal's 3-2 overtime win at the Dallas Stars on Monday, and is following concussion protocol, Julien said.

Stat pack

Boeser has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past four games. … Danault has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past five games.