Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen will make his third consecutive start and try for the 100th victory of his NHL career. He has allowed five goals in his past two starts after allowing 16 goals in his previous three starts. The Maple Leafs did not hold a morning skate for the first time this season for a game that was not the second of back-to-backs. "I liked our practice Monday," coach Mike Babcock said. "I thought we worked hard. I thought we were ready." Toronto is one point ahead of the Islanders for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference. "We know that more than anything they want to catch us," forward Nazem Kadri said. "We're a point ahead of them so we want to try as best as we can to separate ourselves." Toronto has lost its past two games; in a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, they trailed 1-0 and were outshot 17-4 in the first period. In their 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, they were behind 3-0 after the first period. Forward Auston Matthews said the importance of the game Tuesday shouldn't be the sole incentive to have a better start. "I think we should be focused every single game," he said. "But I think especially now in the situation we're in, we feel good, we're in that fine line of teams that are pushing to make the playoffs. For this team that's been the goal all year, and we don't want to have any setbacks."
