Blue Jackets at Maple Leafs preview

BLUE JACKETS (29-23-4) at MAPLE LEAFS (34-19-5)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVAS, SN, FS-O, NHL.TV

The Maple Leafs, who are five points behind the second-place Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division, have scored four goals or more in six of their past eight games.
The Blue Jackets, who are 2-4-1 in their past seven games and 7-10-2 in their past 19, are playing the second half of back-to-back games after defeating the New York Islanders 4-1 on Tuesday. They are one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Blue Jackets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois had a goal and an assist against the Islanders. He has scored in three straight games and has four points (three goals, assist) during a three-game point streak.
Maple Leafs forward William Nylander had two goals and an assist in a 4-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. He has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in his past 10 games.

They said it

"It's not really changing our mindset going into games. It really has no bearing on how we're approaching these games. It's just, let's play the best we can to win the hockey game and everything else will take care of itself." -- Forward Brandon Dubinsky on if the Blue Jackets' position in the standings affects the way they approach games
"It's been positive for us, but at the same time we understand we haven't played our best and there is still another level we can get to, which is the good part." -- Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson
Oliver Bjorkstrand -- Alex Wennberg -- Nick Foligno
Boone Jenner -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Josh Anderson
Matt Calvert -- Lukas Sedlak -- Jussi Jokinen
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Jack Johnson -- Markus Nutivaara
Dean Kukan -- David Savard
Joonas Korpisalo
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched:Markus Hannikainen, Scott Harrington
Injured:Sonny Milano (oblique), Ryan Murray (back)

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Zach Hyman -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander
Patrick Marleau -- Nazem Kadri -- Mitchell Marner
James van Riemsdyk -- Tyler Bozak -- Connor Brown
Leo Komarov -- Dominic Moore -- Kasperi Kapanen
Morgan Rielly -- Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner -- Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott -- Roman Polak
Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Matt Martin, Josh Leivo, Connor Carrick
Injured: Nikita Soshnikov (lower body)

Status report

Bobrovsky, who made 29 saves against the Islanders on Tuesday, was the only goalie on the ice at the Blue Jackets' optional morning skate. Their lineup will not be confirmed until game time. … The Maple Leafs will use the same lineup they did in their win against the Lightning on Monday.

Stat pack

Panarin has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past seven games. … Marner has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past two games.