Maple Leafs at Islanders preview

MAPLE LEAFS (46-24-7) at ISLANDERS (32-35-10)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, TSN4, NHL.TV

The Maple Leafs, who are 7-2-0 in their past nine games and clinched a Stanley Cup Playoff berth on Thursday, are in third place in the Atlantic, seven points behind the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning and eight points behind the first-place Boston Bruins. Toronto, which has scored at least four goals in seven of their past nine games, has played one more game than Boston.
The Islanders, 3-10-4 in their past 17 games, were eliminated from playoff contention on Monday.

Players to watch

Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in a 10-game point streak.
Islanders forward Mathew Barzal has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in his past 16 games.

They said it

"I think his hands and his skill around the net are second to none. Obviously since the trade deadline, he's gone to another level." -- Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock on forward James van Riemsdyk
"He's been one of the best players now for a while, one of the top players in the entire League. … I'm not looking at it as I'm going head-to-head with him or anything, but just the chance to play against him and see the habits and see the things he does out there, I'm sure it's going to benefit my game as well." -- Islanders center Mathew Barzal on facing Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Zach Hyman -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander
Patrick Marleau -- Nazem Kadri -- Mitchell Marner
James van Riemsdyk -- Tyler Bozak -- Connor Brown
Andreas Johnsson -- Tomas Plekanec -- Kasperi Kapanen
Morgan Rielly -- Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner -- Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott -- Roman Polak
Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched:Josh Leivo, Matt Martin, Dominic Moore, Connor Carrick
Injured:Leo Komarov (left leg)

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- John Tavares -- Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier -- Mathew Barzal -- Tanner Fritz
Andrew Ladd -- Brock Nelson -- Cal Clutterbuck
Ross Johnston -- Chris Wagner
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk
Thomas Hickey -- Ryan Pulock
Brandon Davidson -- Adam Pelech
Dennis Seidenberg
Christopher Gibson
Thomas Greiss
Scratched:Scott Mayfield
Injured: Jaroslav Halak (illness), Josh Bailey (upper body), Casey Cizikas (upper body), Nikolay Kulemin (upper body), Calvin de Haan (upper body), Shane Prince (lower body), Alan Quine (lower body)

Status report

The Maple Leafs did not hold a morning skate. … Greiss was activated off injured reserve after Halak became ill Thursday night. "He hasn't eaten in a while and didn't look good this morning," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. The emergency recall status Gibson had from Greiss being on IR was transferred to Halak. … The Islanders will play seven defensemen with the shortage at forward.

Stat pack

Van Riemsdyk has 12 points (nine goals, three assists) in his past eight games. … Lee has six goals in his past six games.