TOR NYR 12.20 preview

MAPLE LEAFS (17-14-4) at RANGERS (16-13-4)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, MSG2, SNO, NHL.TV

The forward has nine points (seven goals, two assists) in a five-game goal/point streak and can match the six-game goal streak by Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane from Nov. 7-17.
Goalie Alexandar Georgiev will make his second straight start and seventh in the past 10 games for the Rangers, who are 3-4-1 in their past eight games. Georgiev is 4-2-0 with a 1.68 goals-against average, .948 save percentage and two shutouts in six starts since Nov. 30. Henrik Lundqvist started six of New York's previous seven games from Nov. 16-29.
Goalie Frederik Andersen will make his ninth straight start and 13th in 14 games for the Maple Leafs, who have two straight and four of their past five.

Players to watch

Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past five games.
Rangers center Mika Zibanejad has six points (four goals, two assists) in a three-game multipoint streak.

They said it

"I think we've done a great job at starting games, getting leads and having good first periods. We're still working on when we do get up, we've got to try to find a way to lock it down, not let them have any life and come back in the game. But we're playing well at least, so we've just got to try to keep building on that." -- Maple Leafs defenseman Tyson Barrie
"When you give up scoring chances and you give up shots everyone talks about the 'D' zone coverage, but our problem more times than not is forcing plays in the offensive zone or through the neutral zone, which translates to giving up chances. We've done a better job of that but if there's a team in the League that thrives off turnovers and soft play it's Toronto." -- Rangers coach David Quinn

Maple Leafs projected lineup
Rangers projected lineup
Status report

Neither team held a morning skate Thursday.

Stat pack

Matthews has five goals in his past five games. … Toronto has had one power play or fewer in seven of 12 games since Sheldon Keefe took over as coach for Mike Babcock. They are 6-for-19 on the power play (31.6 percent) under Keefe. … Kreider has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past five games.