Oilers at Maple Leafs preview

OILERS (26-29-7) at MAPLE LEAFS (38-20-4)
7p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, NHL.TV

McDavid served a two-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of New York Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy on Feb. 21. The Oilers went 1-0-1 without McDavid and are 2-0-1 in their past three games after a five-game losing streak (0-4-1).
The Maple Leafs will be missing defenseman Jake Gardiner, who is out with a lower-body injury. He played a season-low 16:30 on Monday in a 5-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres.
Toronto has won two games in a row after a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) and trails the Boston Bruins by three points for second place in the Atlantic Division.

Players to watch

Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has 10 points (six goals, four assists) during a seven-game point streak
Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews has five points (three goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak

They said it

"I expect him to play well. He's [ticked] off and hopefully he stays that way from 7 p.m. until 9:30.p.m. He's not a happy guy right now and that's good for us. We need him back." -- Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock on Connor McDavid
"It takes all five guys on the ice. We're going to have to communicate a lot and make sure we stay above him. He's got a lot of speed, so it's going to take a five-man group to bring him into an area to make it hard for him to get out of it. I'm sure he's going to be ready to play, he's missed the last two and this is his hometown so he's going to want to play." -- Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner on Connor McDavid

Oilers projected lineup

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Connor McDavid -- Sam Gagner
Tobias Rieder -- Leon Draisaitl -- Alex Chiasson
Milan Lucic -- Colby Cave -- Josh Currie
Brad Malone -- Kyle Brodziak -- Zack Kassian
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse -- Kris Russell
Matt Benning -- Andrej Sekera
Mikko Koskinen
Anthony Stolarz
Scratched: Kevin Gravel, Alexander Petrovic, Ty Rattie
Injured: Jesse Puljujarvi (lower body), Jujhar Khaira (lower body)

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Maple Leafs projected lineup

Andreas Johnsson -- Auston Matthews -- Kasperi Kapanen
Zach Hyman -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner
Patrick Marleau -- William Nylander -- Connor Brown
Tyler Ennis -- Frederik Gauthier -- Trevor Moore
Morgan Rielly -- Ron Hainsey
Jake Muzzin -- Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott -- Igor Ozhiganov
Frederik Andersen
Garret Sparks
Scratched: Justin Holl, Nic Petan
Injured: Nazem Kadri (concussion), Jake Gardiner (lower body)

Status report

Kadri will miss his fourth straight game. He has not practiced in full with the Maple Leafs since sustaining a concussion Feb. 19.

Stat pack

The Oilers are 3-8-4 in their past 15 games and have scored two goals or fewer in seven of their past eight. … Rielly has four assists during a three-game point streak. … Tavares has three points (two goals, one assist) during a three-game point streak.