Lightning at Maple Leafs preview

LIGHTNING (43-20-6) at MAPLE LEAFS (35-25-9)
7 p.m. ET; TVAS, TSN4, SUN, NHL.TV

The defenseman has missed the past 23 games with a fractured foot; the Maple Leafs were 11-9-3 without him.
Toronto, 0-2-1 in its past three games after going 4-1-0 in the previous five, can extend its one-point lead on the Florida Panthers for third place in the Atlantic Division.
Defenseman Victor Hedman will miss his second straight game for the Lightning because of a lower-body injury and is day to day.
Tampa Bay, 3-5-1 in its past nine games following a Lightning-record 11-game winning streak, is seven points behind the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins.

Players to watch

Lightning center Brayden Point has four points (two goals, two assists) in a three-game point streak.
Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past six games.

They said it

"When you're taking out 25 minutes, all your special teams, a driving force that can affect the game, it has an effect. There's a hole when he's not there." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper on defenseman Victor Hedman, who's day to day with a lower-body injury
"There were lots of ups and downs. This time of year that's not a good thing necessarily, you want to be a little more consistent than we have been. It's tough to watch, no question about it. … Hopefully I'll be able to contribute now in a positive way. We have 13 games left so it's time to be more consistent and play a brand of hockey that will work for us in the playoffs." -- Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Blake Coleman
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Nikita Kucherov
Carter Verhaeghe -- Tyler Johnson -- Yanni Gourde
Pat Maroon -- Cedric Paquette -- Barclay Goodrow
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Braydon Coburn -- Zach Bogosian
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Mitchell Stephens, Luke Schenn
Injured: Jan Rutta (lower body), Steven Stamkos (core muscle), Victor Hedman (lower body)

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Zach Hyman -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander
Kasperi Kapanen -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner
Pierre Engvall -- Alex Kerfoot -- Denis Malgin
Kyle Clifford -- Frederik Gauthier -- Jason Spezza
Morgan Rielly -- Cody Ceci
Travis Dermott -- Justin Holl
Rasmus Sandin -- Tyson Barrie
Frederik Andersen
Jack Campbell
Scratched: Calle Rosen
Injured: Ilya Mikheyev (wrist laceration), Andreas Johnsson (meniscus), Jake Muzzin (broken hand)

Status report

Hedman took part in the morning skate but Cooper said he is not quite ready to return. ... Mikheyev, a forward, practiced with the Maple Leafs on Monday and Muzzin, a defenseman, skated on his own after practice. There is no timeline for the return of either player.

Stat pack

Kucherov has 35 points (16 goals, 19 assists) in his past 23 games, with at least one point in 22 of them, and 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 25 games against Toronto. ... Marner has gone two games without a point for the third time this season. He has yet to go three games without one.