Maple Leafs at Coyotes preview

MAPLE LEAFS (36-18-3) at COYOTES (25-27-5)
7 p.m. ET; CBC, SNO, FS-A, NHL.TV

The center has three goals and three assists in his past two games for the Maple Leafs, who have won six of their past seven (6-1-0) and seven of their past nine (7-1-1). Matthews, the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft who grew up in suburban Scottsdale, Arizona, has 101 goals in 187 NHL games.
Toronto is 3-1-0 on its six-game road trip and is in second place in the Atlantic Division.
The Coyotes have lost six of eight (2-5-1), allowing at least four goals in four of their past six games, and are 10-14-3 at Gila River Arena. They have an NHL-low 23 points on home ice. Arizona is five points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Maple Leafs center John Tavares has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past six games and nine goals in 14 games against Arizona.
Coyotes center Clayton Keller has a team-high 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) at home and four points (one goal, three assists) in three games against Toronto.

They said it

"I feel like I'm skating a lot better this year. Getting up and down the ice, utilizing my body. That's a big thing (coach Mike Babcock) harps on me for. When I'm skating and moving, it's kind of difficult to defend against." -- Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews
"It's something we're going to have to dive into. The year and a half I've been here, we're winning games on the road but at home, we start games sluggish -- though we've had some good games at home this year. That's my job, to figure out why we're not as sharp at home." -- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Patrick Marleau -- Auston Matthews -- Kasperi Kapanen
Zach Hyman -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner
Connor Brown -- Nazem Kadri -- William Nylander
Par Lindholm -- Frederik Gauthier -- Tyler Ennis
Morgan Rielly -- Ron Hainsey
Jake Muzzin -- Nikita Zaitsev
Jake Gardiner -- Travis Dermott
Frederik Andersen
Garret Sparks
Scratched:Justin Holl, Igor Ozhiganov
Injured: Andreas Johnsson (lower body)

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Coyotes projected lineup

Clayton Keller -- Nick Cousins -- Alex Galchenyuk
Richard Panik -- Derek Stepan -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Conor Garland -- Jordan Weal -- Christian Fischer
Lawson Crouse -- Brad Richardson -- Josh Archibald
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Niklas Hjalmarsson
Jakob Chychrun -- Alex Goligoski
Kevin Connauton -- Jordan Oesterle
Darcy Kuemper
Calvin Pickard
Scratched:Ilya Lyubushkin
Injured: Kyle Capobianco (lower body), Jason Demers (lower body), Nick Schmaltz (lower body), Christian Dvorak (upper body), Michael Grabner (upper body), Antti Raanta (lower body), Mario Kempe (upper body)

Status report

Johnsson, who scored a goal during Toronto's 6-3 win at the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, is out. He will be replaced by Ennis, who has been out since Dec. 22 with a lower-body injury. … Dvorak, who has yet to play this season, is expected to be assigned soon to Tucson of the American Hockey League for rehabilitation.

Stat pack

Kapanen has five points (three goals, two assists) during a three-game point streak. … The Maple Leafs are 15-7-0 against the Western Conference and 9-2-0 against the Pacific Division. They lost 4-2 at home to Arizona on Jan. 20. … Keller scored in that game but is without a goal in his past 10 games. … The Coyotes have scored 70 goals at home, 11 fewer than any other NHL team. … Arizona is 13-3-1 against Toronto since the start of the 2005-06 season.