Preview: Sharks at Maple Leafs

SHARKS (16-11-1) at MAPLE LEAFS (11-11-5)
7:30 p.m. ET; TSN4, CSN-CA, NHL.TV

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Sharks team scope

San Jose Sharks defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who sustained a lower-body injury in a 4-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, and David Schlemko, who has missed three games with a leg injury, each declared themselves ready to play Tuesday, but coach Peter DeBoer said each would be a game-time decision. The Sharks have won seven of their past 10, and have allowed 19 goals in that span. "I don't know if a coach is ever pleased all the way defensively, but we've come a long way," DeBoer said. "We started the season a little loose, we weren't scoring, and we kind of reset and tried to dial our defensive game in a little bit. We tried to get a 1-0, 2-1 type mindset and I think that's paid off for us." Center Joe Thornton's line, with forwards Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski, are expected to go up against the Toronto Maple Leafs line of Leo Komarov, Nazem Kadri and Connor Brown. "I think faceoffs are a huge part of it, whoever you are playing against, if you start without the puck, it's going to be a lot harder," said Thornton, who has five assists in his past four games but has not scored a goal in his past 15. Goaltender Martin Jones is expected to start.

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Maple Leafs team scope

Nearly seven years after making his NHL debut against Thornton and the Sharks, Kadri expects to get the shut-down assignment Tuesday against Thornton's line. "Just experience, learning how to play against the best players and just being responsible," said the Maple Leafs center, who played his first League game on Feb. 8, 2010 against San Jose, "so I think I've come a long way since then but I still have a lot of room to improve. On that day, I had no idea. I definitely would not have seen myself in this position years later. But when I'm challenged with something I try to embrace it." Said Toronto coach Mike Babcock on Kadri, "I just know the last year and a half, he's got better, he's better without the puck, he's more competitive, he takes it more serious." The Maple Leafs are 1-3-1 in their past five games, but are 8-5-0 this season at Air Canada Centre. Goaltender Frederik Andersen will start after backup Antoine Bibeau made his League debut Sunday in a 3-1 loss against the Colorado Avalanche. Left wing James van Riemsdyk is two points from 300 in his NHL career.

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Sharks projected lineup

Patrick Marleau -- Joe Thornton -- Joe Pavelski
Joonas Donskoi -- Logan Couture -- Joel Ward
Mikkel Boedker -- Chris Tierney - Kevin Labanc
Matt Nieto -- Tommy Wingels - Melker Karlsson
Paul Martin -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon - David Schlemko
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched:Micheal Haley, Mirco Mueller, Dylan DeMeloInjured:Tomas Hertl (right knee)

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Maple Leafs projected lineup

James van Riemsdyk -- Tyler Bozak -- Mitchell Marner
Leo Komarov -- Nazem Kadri -- Connor Brown
Zach Hyman -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander
Matt Martin -- Ben Smith -- Nikita Soshnikov
Morgan Rielly -- Nikita Zaitsev
Jake Gardiner -- Connor Carrick
Matt Hunwick -- Roman Polak
Frederik Andersen
Antoine Bibeau
Scratched:Josh Leivo, Frank CorradoInjured:Martin Marincin (undisclosed)

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Status Report

The Sharks recalled Mueller from the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League on Monday. … Marincin, who sustained an undisclosed injury during a 4-1 loss at the Boston Bruins on Saturday and has missed one game, did not participate in the morning skate. He will be out "for a bit," Babcock said.

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Who's hot

Burns has three goals and an assist in a four-game point streak, and has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his past 11 games. … Couture has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past seven games, with points in six of those seven. … Matthews has six goals in his past eight games. … Andersen is 5-3-1 with a 1.89 goals-against average and .935 save percentage in his past nine starts.