Maple Leafs at Red Wings preview

MAPLE LEAFS (30-17-2) at RED WINGS (19-25-7)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-D, TSN4, NHL.TV

The Maple Leafs acquired the defenseman from the Los Angeles Kings in a trade for two prospects and a first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. The 29-year-old had 21 points (four goals, 17 assists) in 50 games for the Kings.
Each team is returning from its NHL-mandated five-day break. Detroit last played on Jan. 22, winning 3-2 at the Edmonton Oilers, while the Maple Leafs defeated the Washington Capitals 6-3 at Scotiabank Arena on Jan. 23.

Players to watch

Toronto forward Mitch Marner has seven points (five goals, two assists) in his past seven games.
Detroit center Dylan Larkin has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past five games.

They said it

"I'm a little excited and a little nervous because this is all new to me. I've never been traded before, so I'm excited to see how it turns out. This is a very good hockey team, and it's crazy having grown up in southern Ontario as a huge Maple Leafs fan and now coming full circle to playing for them." -- Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin
"It's a long break, but our guys seem refreshed, which is what you want to see. It felt to be great back at practice and the energy was great, and now we're going right back at it with back-to-back games. That's what we all love to do." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill

Maple Leafs projected lineup

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

Red Wings projected lineup

Gustav Nyquist -- Dylan Larkin -- Justin Abdelkader
Thomas Vanek -- Frans Nielsen -- Anthony Mantha
Darren Helm -- Luke Glendening -- Andreas Athanasiou
Christoffer Ehn -- Jacob de la Rose --
Martin Frk
Niklas Kronwall -- Mike Green
Danny DeKeyser -- Dennis Cholowski
Jonathan Ericsson -- Nick Jensen
Jimmy Howard
Jonathan Bernier
Scratched:Luke Witkowski
Injured:Evgeny Svechnikov (knee surgery), Trevor Daley (foot), Tyler Bertuzzi (upper body)

Status report

Johnsson (concussion) and Gardiner (back spasms) are expected to return from injuries. Reilly will move to the right side on the top defensive pair to make room for Muzzin, a fellow lefty. … The Red Wings sent rookie Michael Rasmussen (lower body) to Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League for a conditioning stint.

Stat pack

Toronto is 2-4-0 in its past six games. … The Red Wings have gone 3-2-0 in their past five games after losing 13 of their previous 15 (2-10-3). Howard is 3-1-0 with a .910 save percentage in his past four starts.