Bruins at Maple Leafs preview

BRUINS (37-13-8) at MAPLE LEAFS (38-20-5)
7 p.m. ET; SN, NESN, NHL.TV

The Maple Leafs, who have won eight consecutive home games and are 12-2-0 in their past 14 games, can tie a mark set Nov. 11-Dec. 26, 1953 and tied March 6-April 7, 2007.
Toronto, which trails Boston by one point for second place in the Atlantic Division, will try to defeat the Bruins for the 13th time in their past 15 games against their Original Six rival. Boston has five games in hand.
The Maple Leafs will be without center Auston Matthews
for at least 10 days
because of a shoulder injury, sustained in a 4-3 shootout win against the New York Islanders on Thursday.
The Bruins, who trail the Tampa Bay Lightning by three points for the Atlantic Division lead with three games in hand, seek their third straight win and 14th in 17 games (13-3-0).

Players to watch

Bruins center Patrice Bergeron has eight points (five goals, three assists) in his past seven games and 28 points (17 goals, 11 assists) in his past 22 games.
Maple Leafs forward William Nylander will move from right wing to replace Matthews at center on Toronto's first line. He has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in his past 15 games.

They said it

"It's not going to change anything that we're preparing to do. We're going to have to work really hard, they have a good team and we have to play to our standard." -- Bruins captain Zdeno Chara on facing Toronto with Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews injured
"Wingers can be average and still be fine. Centers have to be good every night, they have to play 200 feet and they have to compete." -- Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock on what he wants to see from William Nylander at center

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Ryan Spooner
Danton Heinen -- Riley Nash -- David Backes
Tim Schaller -- Sean Kuraly -- Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk -- Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Nick Holden, Adam McQuaid, Paul Postma
Injured:Anders Bjork (shoulder)

Maple Leafs projected lineup

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

Status report

Miller will play for the first time since Feb. 1 after missing the past nine games with an upper-body injury.

Stat pack

Rask is 19-2-2 with a 1.86 goals-against average, a .933 save percentage and one shutout in his past 23 starts. … Kadri has 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in his past 14 games.