Sharks at Maple Leafs preview

SHARKS (12-8-5) at MAPLE LEAFS (17-8-0)
7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, NBCSCA, NHL.TV

Matthews has missed the past 14 games with a left shoulder injury sustained against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 27. Toronto went 9-5-0 without him in the lineup.
Goalie Frederik Andersen will start for the Maple Leafs, who have won back-to-back games and are 9-3-0 in their past 12. Toronto has allowed two goals or fewer in eight of those 12 games.
The Sharks, who are 1-1-2 in their past four games, have lost two in a row and are on the second of a back-to-back set. San Jose lost 3-2 in overtime at the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.

Players to watch

Sharks forward Logan Couture has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past five games.
Andersen made 38 saves in a 4-2 win against the Boston Bruins on Monday. He is 7-2-0 with a 1.90 goals-against average, .947 save percentage and one shutout in his past nine starts.

They said it

"He's a world-class player, one of the best players in our game, but we've got to focus on the way we play. Limit our turnovers against them, they have so much skill up front that they transition so quickly and turn it into offense. We'll worry about our own game." -- Sharks forward Logan Couture on the return of Auston Matthews
"Just excitement. It feels like forever, but it's just nice to be back with the team. Obviously, we've been playing really well lately but just to be back in the lineup, it's very exciting for myself and I'm just going to try to keep things simple." -- Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews

Sharks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Joe Pavelski -- Joonas Donskoi
Tomas Hertl -- Logan Couture -- Timo Meier
Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Kevin Labanc
Barclay Goodrow --
Lukas Radil
-- Melker Karlsson
Brenden Dillon -- Erik Karlsson
Joakim Ryan -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun
Aaron Dell
Martin Jones
Scratched:Antti Suomela, Radim Simek, Tim Heed
Injured:None

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Zach Hyman -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner
Patrick Marleau -- Auston Matthews -- Kasperi Kapanen
Andreas Johnsson -- Nazem Kadri -- Connor Brown
Tyler Ennis -- Par Lindholm -- Josh Leivo
Morgan Rielly -- Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner -- Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott -- Igor Ozhiganov
Frederik Andersen
Garret Sparks
Scratched:Frederik Gauthier, Martin Marincin, Justin Holl
Injured: None

Status report

Suomela, Simek, Heed and Jones were the only players to take part in an optional morning skate for San Jose. Coach Peter DeBoer said his lineup, including the starting goalie, would be a game-time decision.

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Stat pack

Labanc has four assists in his past four games. ... Pavelski has 12 points (eight goals, four assists) in his past eight games. … Tavares has 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in his past 13 games. ... Leivo has scored a goal in back-to-back games. ... Marner has assists in his past two games.