Maple Leafs at Bruins preview

MAPLE LEAFS (30-18-5) at BRUINS (30-11-8)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, CITY, TVA Sports, NESN, NHL.TV

Rask is 17-0-2 with a 1.62 goals-against average in his past 20 games (19 starts), the fourth-longest streak in Bruins history. He has not lost in regulation since a 4-2 loss against the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 26. Boston is 15-1-4 in its past 20 games.
Frederik Andersen will start for the Maple Leafs, who have outscored opponents 9-0 in the past two games. Toronto will try for its third straight shutout for the second time in history (five games, Nov. 13-22, 1930).
Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy will return after missing the past four games after having an ablation to correct an irregular heart rhythm.

Players to watch

Toronto forward William Nylander has a five-game point streak with six points (one goal, five assists) in that span.
Bruins center Patrice Bergeron has 19 points (11 goals, eight assists) in his past 13 games.

They said it

"I just want to get in the playoffs. So that's what we'll [try for]. We'll try to get better here today. You guys get paid to speculate, I get paid to get better every day." -- Toronto coach Mike Babcock on a possible Stanley Cup Playoffs matchup against Boston
"I'm excited. It doesn't feel like I was gone too long. Kind of somewhat of a quick two weeks. It's kind of always hard when you're kind of on that little couch rest there and you're sitting around, it does tend to feel longer than it is. ... But everything was going to have to line up and it did."-- Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy

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
Ron Hainsey -- Morgan Rielly
Jake Gardiner -- Nikita Zaitsev
Andreas Borgman -- Connor Carrick
Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Josh Leivo, Travis Dermott
Injured: Roman Polak (viral infection)

Bruins projected lineup

Danton Heinen -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Ryan Spooner
Tim Schaller -- Riley Nash -- David Backes
Frank Vatrano -- Sean Kuraly --
Austin Czarnik
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk -- Adam McQuaid
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Paul Postma
Injured:Noel Acciari (lower body), Kevan Miller (upper body)
Suspended:Brad Marchand

Status report

Rielly returns after missing six games with an upper-body injury. ... Hainsey returns after missing two games because of illness ... Czarnik was called up from Providence of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis Saturday and will replace Peter Cehlarik, who was sent to Providence.

Stat pack

The Maple Leafs have won the past six games against the Bruins, including two this season. ... Chara will become the 39th player to play in 1,400 NHL games.