Senators at Maple Leafs preview

SENATORS (19-25-9) at MAPLE LEAFS (32-19-5)
7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, NHL.TV

The Maple Leafs, in third place in the Atlantic Division, five points behind the second-place Boston Bruins, are 6-1-0 in their past seven games and have held opponents to two goals or fewer in five of those games.
Forward Mark Stone and center Derick Brassard each will return for the Senators, who trail the New York Islanders by 13 points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Stone missed the past nine games with a lower-body injury and Brassard was out the past two games with an undisclosed injury.
Ottawa, seeking its third straight victory, is 4-1-0 in its past five games after a six-game losing streak, and is 2-1-0 against Toronto this season.

Players to watch

Senators forward Mike Hoffman has score a goal in three straight games and has seven points (three goals, four assists) in a five-game point streak.
Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his past nine games.

They said it

"Stone has been out for a while, someone who's very important to our team. Brassard has missed a few games and it's going to be nice to get some depth, speed and experience back." -- Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson on the returns of forward Mark Stone and center Derick Brassard
"Not sure, we're trying to figure that out ourselves. We had meetings yesterday and a few today already. When we come here tonight, we know how they like to play, we know what they do. It's important we prepare appropriately and come ready to play." -- Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly on Toronto's 1-2-0 record against Ottawa this season

Senators projected lineup

Mike Hoffman -- Matt Duchene -- Colin White
Ryan Dzingel -- Derick Brassard -- Mark Stone
Zack Smith -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Tom Pyatt
Magnus Paajarvi -- Christopher DiDomenico
Johnny Oduya -- Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf -- Cody Ceci
Thomas Chabot -- Mark Borowiecki
Fredrik Claesson
Craig Anderson
Mike Condon
Scratched:None
Injured: Chris Wideman (hamstring), Gabriel Dumont (ankle), Bobby Ryan (finger), Nate Thompson (lower body)
Suspended:Alexandre Burrows

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 -- Connor Carrick
Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Matt Martin, Josh Leivo, Roman Polak
Injured:Nikita Soshnikov (lower body)

Status report

The Senators will dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen. … Carrick will play after missing the past two games as a healthy scratch.

Stat pack

Duchene has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past four games… Gardiner has 13 assists in his past 10 games. … Nylander has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past eight games.