Maple Leafs at Lightning preview

MAPLE LEAFS (21-9-1) at LIGHTNING (24-7-1)
7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SUN, SNO, NHL.TV

Vasilevskiy has missed 14 games with a fractured left foot sustained during practice Nov. 14. The Lightning, 12-2-0 in Vasilevskiy's absence, look to win their eighth consecutive game to extend their longest winning streak this season. With 49 points, they lead the NHL, six points ahead of the second-place Maple Leafs.
Toronto, 6-1-1 in its past eight games, has scored at least four goals in seven of its past eight games.
Goalie Frederik Andersen will make his 26th start for the Maple Leafs this season. He is second in the NHL with 17 wins, one behind Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights.

Players to watch

Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews has 11 points (six goals, five assists) during a six-game point streak.
Lightning center Steven Stamkos has seven points (five goals, two assists) in his past two games and 12 points (eight goals, four assists) in his past seven games.

They said it

"I'm not going head-to-head with [coach] Jon [Cooper] but our team is playing their team and it's a way to have an evaluation of your own club. ... [The Lightning] are setting the standard in the League right now and we'd like to. So let's see what happens." -- Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock
"He's been our MVP for a long time. I know it was tough for him to watch all those games. Louis [Domingue] really stepped up and I thought the guys played well in front of him. We can't have that letdown now because he's back." -- Lightning center Steven Stamkos on goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Connor Brown -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner
Andreas Johnsson -- Auston Matthews -- Kasperi Kapanen
Patrick Marleau -- Nazem Kadri -- William Nylander
Par Lindholm -- Frederik Gauthier -- Tyler Ennis
Morgan Rielly -- Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner -- Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott -- Igor Ozhiganov
Frederik Andersen
Garret Sparks
Scratched: Justin Holl, Martin Marincin
Injured:None
Suspended:Zach Hyman

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Steven Stamkos -- Yanni Gourde
Tyler Johnson -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- J.T. Miller
Mathieu Joseph - Cedric Paquette -- Ryan Callahan
Victor Hedman -- Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Braydon Coburn -- Mikhail Sergachev
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Louis Domingue
Scratched: Slater Koekkoek, Danick Martel, Adam Erne
Injured: Anton Stralman (upper body)

Status report

Each team held an optional morning skate Thursday. … Babcock said he would continue to keep Nylander on the third line until he feels the forward is ready to move for more ice time.

Stat pack

Toronto has the best road record in the NHL (12-4-0) and Tampa Bay has the best home mark (14-4-0). … Marner has 13 assists in his past eight games. … Kucherov has 27 points (five goals, 22 assists) in his past 14 games. … Point has 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in his past 14 games.