Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson practiced Sunday for the first time in almost two weeks and Hughes is a "possibility" to return from an upper-body injury for the Canucks when they begin a five-game road trip at the Montreal Canadiens on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS, Prime).
Hughes, the Canucks top defenseman and captain, and Pettersson, their No. 1 center, have missed four games since each last played Dec. 23 against the San Jose Sharks. They had been skating on their own prior to the road trip.
Hughes was listed as week to week and Pettersson day to day, but Hughes appears closer to returning after skating with the top power-play unit Sunday.
"I would say it's day to day, possibility tomorrow, but we'll see," coach Rick Tocchet told reporters in Montreal on Sunday when asked if Hughes is closer to returning. "We want to make the right decision, too, so we'll take our time on this. But we've still got 24 hours before we make a decision."
Hughes, who leads Vancouver and is third among NHL defensemen with 42 points (eight goals, 34 assists) in 34 games, was labeled as questionable going into the game on Dec. 23. He played 24:45 and had two assists in a 4-3 win, but the Canucks have gone 1-2-1 in the four games he has missed since.
"Nice to be back, obviously hate missing time," Hughes said after practice. "The way we went about it and handled it, lucky with the medical group we have and support system we have here, I think everything we did is how we wanted it to play out. Now, I'm in a spot where I am on the up and up."
Pettersson, who is tied with Jake DeBrusk for third on the Canucks with 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 34 games, scored twice in the second period Dec. 23 but only played one shift in the third and hasn't played and hadn't practiced until Sunday.
"You get a couple star guys like that, just even practicing, it gives the guys juice," Tocchet said, "And actually they were excited to join the team. When you're segregated and you're doing skating by yourself, it gets tough."
Vancouver also was without No. 1 goalie Thatcher Demko in a 3-0 loss to Nashville on Friday after he sustained back spasms during a 4-3 shootout win at the Seattle Kraken on Thursday, leaving in the second after getting spun around in a collision with teammate Noah Juulsen.
Goalie Arturs Silovs was recalled from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League to back up Kevin Lankinen on Friday, but Tocchet said after that Demko would travel to Montreal.
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