Maple Leafs at Flames preview
Toronto goalie Andersen goes for 200th NHL win; Calgary seeks seventh straight win
by Aaron Vickers / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
MAPLE LEAFS (15-13-4) at FLAMES (17-12-4)
9 p.m. ET; SNW, TSN4, NHL.TV
The Game
The Calgary Flames will try to extend their season-long winning streak to seven games when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday.
Calgary is 7-0-1 in its past eight games after a six-game winless streak (0-5-1).
David Rittich, who is 14-7-4 with a 2.74 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in 25 games, will start for the Flames.
Frederik Andersen will make his sixth straight start for the Maple Leafs and try for his 200th NHL win. Toronto has won two in a row and is 6-3-0 in its past nine games.
Players to watch
Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews has three goals in his past two games and leads the team with 34 points (19 goals, 15 assists).
Flames center Sean Monahan has eight points (five goals, three assists) in a seven-game point streak and has goals in four consecutive games.
They said it
"I think both of us are trying to build on a lot of good things, put a few in a row. It should be a great test, a really good hockey game. For us, we're just trying to focus on what we have to continue to do and carry the start we've had on this road trip into the second half." -- Maple Leafs center John Tavares
"They've got lots of skill. I think we've got to stick to our game and play our game. That's how we're winning right now. We're sticking together, rolling four lines. Everyone's contributing. We've got to do that tonight. Everyone's playing a role. That's a huge part to winning as a team." -- Flames center Sean Monahan
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Zach Hyman -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner
Kasperi Kapanen -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander
Pierre Engvall -- Alexander Kerfoot -- Ilya Mikheyev
Nic Petan -- Jason Spezza -- Pontus Aberg
Morgan Rielly -- Tyson Barrie
Jake Muzzin -- Justin Holl
Travis Dermott -- Cody Ceci
Frederik Andersen
Michael Hutchinson
Scratched: Frederik Gauthier, Dmytro Timashov, Martin Marincin
Injured: Andreas Johnsson (leg), Trevor Moore (shoulder)
Flames projected lineup
Matthew Tkachuk -- Elias Lindholm -- Andrew Mangiapane
Mikael Backlund -- Sean Monahan -- Dillon Dube
Milan Lucic -- Derek Ryan -- Johnny Gaudreau
Tobias Rieder -- Mark Jankowski -- Michael Frolik
Mark Giordano -- Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin -- Travis Hamonic
TJ Brodie -- Michael Stone
David Rittich
Cam Talbot
Scratched: Zac Rinaldo, Matthew Phillips, Oliver Kylington
Injured: Sam Bennett (upper body), Austin Czarnik (lower body)
Status report
Moore, who has missed 11 games because of a shoulder injury, is day to day. … Tkachuk, who did not play in a 5-2 win at the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday, will be a game-time decision.
Stat pack
Hyman has four goals in a three-game scoring streak. … Marner has four assists in his past two games. … Ryan has six points (one goal, five assists) in a four-game point streak. … Frolik has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past two games.