The Montreal Canadiens look to finish off a successful month with a strong three-game road trip that begins with an Atlantic Division matchup against the improving Florida Panthers on Friday night. The Canadiens are 8-4-0 in December after completing a three-game trek out West with two wins before the Christmas break, capped by center Phillip Danault’s hat trick in a 4-3 overtime victory at Vegas on Saturday.

There’s been no bigger improvement for the New York Islanders this season than their performance in the defensive zone and they hope to continue that trend when the struggling Ottawa Senators pay a visit to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Friday night. The Islanders were last in the league in goals-against (3.57 per game) in 2017-18, but went into the Christmas break third in the NHL (2.71) this season after a 3-1 victory at Dallas on Sunday.

The high-powered Toronto Maple Leafs hope to pick up where they left off prior to the holiday break when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday. Toronto is riding a four-game winning streak during which it has scored a total of 23 goals and at least five in each triumph.