Maple Leafs at Sharks preview

MAPLE LEAFS (12-6-0) at SHARKS (10-6-3)
10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, SNO, NHL.TV

Tavares, who was targeted by the Sharks in the offseason before signing a seven-year, $77 million contract with the Maple Leafs on July 1, has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past six games.
The Maple Leafs are 7-1-0 on the road and have allowed two or fewer goals in five of their past six games, including a 5-1 win at the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.
Sharks forward Tomas Hertl is out with a lower-body injury sustained midway through the second period of a 5-4 victory against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. He's day to day.
Forward Patrick Marleau, who played 19 seasons in San Jose before signing with Toronto on July 2, 2017, will face the Sharks at SAP Center for the second time.

Players to watch

Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen is 4-0-0 with an 0.75 goals-against average, .977 save percentage and one shutout in his past four starts.
Sharks center Joe Thornton needs one assist to tie Mario Lemieux for 11th place on the NHL's all-time list.

They said it

"It's still a little weird, a little funny, but definitely a little bit easier the second time around." -- Maple Leafs forward Patrick Marleau
"John Tavares, for me, is one of the best players in the world. Playing with a lot of confidence. I just love the honesty to his game. He plays both ends of the rink, he wins battles, he goes to the dirty areas of the rink, he makes people around him better." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer

Maple Leafs projected lineup

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

Sharks projected lineup

Timo Meier -- Logan Couture -- Joe Pavelski
Marcus Sorensen -- Joe Thornton -- Kevin Labanc
Evander Kane -- Antti Suomela -- Joonas Donskoi
Barclay Goodrow -- Rourke Chartier -- Melker Karlsson
Joakim Ryan -- Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon -- Erik Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched:Radim Simek, Tim Heed
Injured:Tomas Hertl (lower body)

Status report

Matthews skated with the Maple Leafs but will miss his eighth straight game. ... Chartier will replace Hertl.

Stat pack

Rielly has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past seven games. ... Pavelski has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past two games.