Preview: Maple Leafs at Sharks

MAPLE LEAFS (28-20-13) at SHARKS (36-18-7)
10:30 p.m. ET; SNO, CSN-CA, NHL.TV

Maple Leafs team scope

Brian Boyle is expected to make his debut for the Toronto Maple Leafs, one day after being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Boyle did not arrive in San Jose in time for the morning skate, but coach Mike Babcock said that barring a problem with his travel schedule, Boyle will be in the lineup and skate on the fourth line. "Obviously we're excited," Babcock said. "[General manager Lou Lamoriello] thought that our group had earned the right for us to help them. ... This gives us a good opportunity to improve our team and give us more depth and obviously more experience. So it's a positive thing." Boyle likely will skate with Matt Martin and Josh Leivo. "I think we'll be good," said Martin, who will play his 500th NHL game. "We've played a lot against each other over the years. I know how he likes to play the game, and I think he knows how I like to play as well. We're going to want to be heavy as a line and play down low. I think we have three big bodies. Obviously it's going to take some time to learn one another on the ice, but hopefully we can learn that quickly and play a good game tonight." Forward Mitchell Marner will return to the lineup after missing five games with an upper-body injury, and center Tyler Bozak will return after missing one game because of an infected cut on his finger. Goaltender Frederik Andersen is expected to make his fourth straight start.

Sharks team scope

Rookie forward Marcus Sorensen, who was called up Monday from the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League, will play his third NHL game, adding speed to the fourth line that likely will match up against Boyle. Goaltender Martin Jones will make his 52nd start of the season and face rookie Auston Matthews, who has 30 goals and 54 points. "He's unbelievable," forward Mikkel Boedker said. "We've got to watch out for him. At the same time, we can make sure if we turn some of the pucks over and go the other way that he has to play defense and force him to play defense." Marner has 48 points, third among NHL rookies. "Dynamic young players," coach Peter DeBoer said. "I can't remember in my time in the League, which is getting close to the last decade, young guys coming in and making this type of impact." First-line center Joe Thornton needs two assists to become the 13th player in NHL history with 1,000. After a four-game assist streak, Thornton has gone two straight games without one. The Sharks (79 points) enter Tuesday five points ahead of the Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers for first place in the Pacific Division.

Maple Leafs projected lineup

James van Riemsdyk -- Tyler Bozak -- Mitchell Marner
Zach Hyman -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander
Leo Komarov -- Nazem Kadri -- Connor Brown
Matt Martin -- Brian Boyle -- Josh Leivo
Morgan Rielly -- Nikita Zaitsev
Jake Gardiner -- Alexey Marchenko
Matt Hunwick -- Roman Polak
Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched:Ben Smith, Martin Marincin, Nikita Soshnikov
Injured:Connor Carrick (upper body)

Sharks projected lineup

Kevin Labanc -- Joe Thornton -- Joe Pavelski
Patrick Marleau -- Logan Couture -- Mikkel Boedker
Tomas Hertl -- Chris Tierney -- Joel Ward
Marcus Sorensen -- Micheal Haley -- Melker Karlsson
Paul Martin -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon -- David Schlemko
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched:None
Injured:Joonas Donskoi (upper body), Dylan DeMelo (broken wrist)

Status report

Forward Frederik Gauthier, who played in each of the past three games, was sent to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL to make room for Boyle on the roster.

Who's hot

Matthews has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past seven games. ... Gardiner has a four-game point streak (two goals, five assists). ... Burns has a five-game point streak (five goals, three assists). ... Marleau has 15 points (10 goals, five assists) in his past 14 games.