HABS VISITING ANOTHER TEAM IN CRISIS

The Montreal Canadiens come to town today bleeding goals and players ... just like the home team. This could be a doozy or a snoozy. THE BIG MATCHUP Henrik Sedin vs. Brendan Gallagher

Both teams aren’t scoring much these days, so who else to look at but their respective leading scorers who will be active for the game. The Canucks’ captain — who is second on the team in points to the injured Brock Boeser — has six assists in his last four games; Gallagher is pointless in five.

FIVE KEYS TO THE GAME 1. Goals

My goodness. Boeser out. Bo Horvat out. Sven Baertschi out. Who is going to score? The Canucks have 53 goals from the rest of their lineup this season. If there were a time for Nikolay Goldobin to shine, it’s now. Plus, Reid Boucher and his hard shot have been called up; he’s been scoring in the American Hockey League. The Canucks are hoping he can do the same in the NHL.

2. Goaltending

To have any chance of winning while the stars are out, the Canucks are going to need stellar goaltending. Heck, even with the Killer Bs in the lineup, they’re going to need stellar goaltending. Rinse, repeat.

3. The power play

Boeser has been the main story for the Canucks’ suddenly dominant performance with the man advantage. Incredibly, the Canucks got a power-play goal after Boeser left Sunday’s game — Markus Granlund scoring a powerplay marker for the second game in a row.

4. Weber-less Habs

Montreal comes to town having lost four of their last five games. They lost 3-0 outdoors in Ottawa on Saturday and now they’re down their highest-profile defenceman in Shea Weber. Coach Claude Julien said it’s “an injury near one of his feet.”

5. Who will score for the Habs?

Only Gallagher has hit double-digits in goals. Ales Hemsky and Artturi Lehkonen remain on the shelf. Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk and Jonathan Drouin can’t find the net. It all adds up to the Habs having scored fewer goals than the Canucks.