The Kings departed from LAX on Monday and they moved closer to becoming whole again, with defenseman Matt Greene and forward Trevor Lewis inching toward their respective returns from injured reserve. Goaltender Jonathan Quick is expected to be sidelined until Christmas at the earliest, however.

Quick’s groin strain, suffered Nov. 12, opened an opportunity for backup Ben Scrivens and rookie Martin Jones to make their marks. Jones is 2-0-0 with one shutout in his first two NHL starts, making his debut in a nine-round shootout win over the Ducks last Tuesday and following it up with a fill-in shutout Saturday over the New York Islanders after Scrivens was too banged up to start and was scratched at the last minute. The Kings are 8-1-3 since Quick was injured.

The Kings’ power-play is 0 for 33 over the last eight-plus games (see previous post for details).

Montreal is the first stop on a four-game trip for the Kings (19-7-4), who also will visit Toronto, Ottawa and Chicago before returning home next week. The Canadiens are 19-9-3 and are led by defenseman P.K. Subban, who has 24 points (four goals, 20 assists). Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is 14-8-2 with a 1.95 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage.