Flyers at Maple Leafs preview

FLYERS (34-28-8) at MAPLE LEAFS (42-23-5)
7 p.m. ET; TSN4, NBCSP+, NHL.TV

Goalie Frederik Andersen, who has been pulled in each of the past two games (a 6-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday and a 5-4 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday), will make his seventh straight start for the Maple Leafs, who are four points behind the Boston Bruins for second place in the Atlantic Division.
Forward Jakub Voracek will return for the Flyers after serving a two-game suspension. Goalie Brian Elliott will start for the Flyers, who are 6-2-1 in their past nine games and are five points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Flyers forward Scott Laughton has six points (four goals, two assists) during a six-game point streak.
Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past six games.

They said it

"Guys know what position we're in right now. Can't afford to lose two games in a row. I strongly believe that we're not out of it. We're playing two teams right now (Maple Leafs on Friday, Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday) that were basically (Stanley Cup) contenders this year so it's going to be a good test for us. We need to challenge ourselves." -- Flyers forward Claude Giroux
"Lack of urgency? Yeah, I think when we look at the last two starts, I think that's accurate. We have to start better, we have to be more prepared and hungrier. We keep saying the playoffs are around the corner and we have to start to get into playoff mode. But we have to show it and we have to start to do it." -- Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly

Flyers projected lineup

Oskar Lindblom -- Sean Couturier -- Jakub Voracek
James van Riemsdyk -- Nolan Patrick -- Claude Giroux
Michael Raffl -- Scott Laughton -- Travis Konecny
Phil Varone -- Corban Knight -- Ryan Hartman
Ivan Provorov -- Travis Sanheim
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Philippe Myers
Robert Hagg -- Radko Gudas
Brian Elliott
Carter Hart
Scratched:Cam Talbot, Andrew MacDonald, Samuel Morin
Injured: Michal Neuvirth (lower body)

Maple Leafs projected lineup

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

Status report

Hyman will be a game-time decision. He missed the game against the Blackhawks on Wednesday and did not practice Thursday. … The Flyers sent forward Justin Bailey to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League.

Stat pack

Gostisbehere has four points (zero goals, four assists) during a three-game point streak. … van Riemsdyk has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in his past 10 games. … Tavares is one goal from becoming the third player in Maple Leafs history to score 40 in his first season with Toronto (Eddie Olczyk, 42 in 1987-88 and Auston Matthews, 40 in 2016-17). … Marner has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in his past eight games.