Maple Leafs at Flyers preview

MAPLE LEAFS (45-25-6) at FLYERS (36-32-8)
7 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, NBCSP, NHL.TV

The Maple Leafs, who are 2-0-1 in their past three games after going 1-4-0 in their previous five, are third in the division, five points behind the Boston Bruins, who host the New York Rangers on Wednesday.
Philadelphia has lost back-to-back games and can be eliminated from contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a regulation loss. The Flyers are 10 points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Maple Leafs center John Tavares has seven points (five goals, two assists) during a three-game point streak and 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in his past 12 games.
Flyers forward Claude Giroux has 19 points (three goals, 16 assists) in his past 15 games.

They said it

"Last time we raced them to seven (7-6 Maple Leafs win on March 15) and we'd like not to do that again. It's a good opportunity for our team playing real high-end players offensively. They got a real active back end. Their top-six (forward group) is as good as anybody's. They make it hard on you that way." -- Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock
"I think they're all pros. They know the right way and the wrong way to play the game. They don't want to put their teammates in compromising situations as far as the decision making and taking their foot off the pedal. I don't have any doubts that our guys will play well." -- Flyers coach Scott Gordon

Maple Leafs projected lineup

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

Flyers projected lineup

James van Riemsdyk -- Nolan Patrick -- Claude Giroux
Oskar Lindblom -- Sean Couturier -- Jakub Voracek
Ryan Hartman -- Scott Laughton -- Travis Konecny
Michael Raffl -- Corban Knight
Ivan Provorov -- Travis Sanheim
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Philippe Myers
Robert Hagg -- Radko Gudas
Samuel Morin
Carter Hart
Cam Talbot
Scratched:Brian Elliott, Andrew MacDonald, Phil Varone, Justin Bailey
Injured:Michal Neuvirth (lower body)

Status report

Ennis replaces Moore after being a healthy scratch for the previous four games. ... Morin will make his season debut. It will be his first NHL game since May 9, 2018, when he tore the ACL in his right knee playing for Lehigh Valley during the American Hockey League playoffs.

Stat pack

Marleau will play in his 1,652nd game, tying
Mark Recchi
for fifth in NHL history. Matthews has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past eight games. ... Couturier has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his past 12 games. Van Riemsdyk has six goals in his past seven games, including a hat trick at Toronto on March 15.