The Montreal Canadiens have raced to the top spot in the Eastern Conference behind stellar performances from their star players, most notably Carey Price.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have spent the last two-plus months going in the opposite direction, but they're coming off their first back-to-back wins since December as they face the Canadiens on Saturday night.

Max Pacioretty scored his team-leading 30th goal, P.K. Subban had three points and a career-best plus-five rating and Price allowed two or fewer goals for the ninth straight start in a 5-2 win at Columbus on Thursday.

Andrei Markov also posted a plus-five rating - which ties the best mark in the NHL this season - and rookie Jacob De La Rose scored his first two career goals.

"It was a lot of fun tonight," Pacioretty said. "We played pretty well offensively. Maybe a couple too many turnovers, but it's nice to see the boys make plays and have them get rewarded, especially guys like Rosey."

Pacioretty scored for the fifth time in six games, while Subban has 11 points in his last eight.

Price has gone 13-1-1 with a 1.31 goals-against average in his last 15 starts. One of them came Feb. 14, when he made 28 saves in Montreal's 2-1 shootout victory over Toronto (25-31-5).

The Leafs have scored seven goals in winning their past two after dropping five straight. Toronto had totaled six goals in the previous four.

Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf scored and Jonathan Bernier made a season-high 47 saves in a 3-2 victory over Philadelphia on Thursday.

"I'm just trying to do my job here," Bernier said. "That was a tough call before the game that we found out (David Clarkson had been traded to Columbus). But at the same time when you're not doing so well, there's going to be big changes."

The Leafs also dealt forward Daniel Winnik to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, and more moves are possible with Toronto in sell mode before Monday's trade deadline.

"I think there's never anyone that's untradeable," Phaneuf said. "Anyone can be moved."

Toronto hasn't won three in a row since a six-game run Dec. 6-16, and the club has gone 6-22-2 since that streak to sink toward the bottom of the conference.

The Leafs' record on the road suggests another victory will be hard to come by in this game. The Leafs are 0-12-2 away from home in 2015, and Montreal has won the last four meetings in the series.

Forward Devante Smith-Pelly made his Canadiens debut Thursday and logged 17 minutes, recording two shots on goal.

"He played really well for his first game," Pacioretty said of Smith-Pelly, acquired from Anaheim on Tuesday. "Having a big body like that is always nice. It seems like you can insert him in different areas of the lineup and have him be successful. Having versatility like that is important as the season goes on."

Smith-Pelly had five goals and 12 assists in 54 games with the Ducks.