Preview: Maple Leafs at Capitals

MAPLE LEAFS (17-12-7) at CAPITALS (22-9-5)
7 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, TSN4, CSN-DC, NHL.TV

Maple Leafs team scope

Frederik Andersen will start in goal when the Toronto Maple Leafs look for their sixth straight win. They haven't won six straight since Dec. 6-16, 2014. The Maple Leafs defeated the Detroit Red Wings 5-4 in overtime in the 2017 Scotiabank NHL Centennial Classic on Sunday. Toronto defeated the Washington Capitals 4-2 on Nov. 26. "I think they've had a spring in their step for a while," coach Mike Babcock said of his team's play. "We just had the outdoor game, all those things, we've been winning, so that leads to that. Obviously they're going to want to play well. The whole key here is just do more by doing less. Take care of the puck. Don't try to fool anybody. There's not going to be a lot of space here tonight, so make sure you're getting through the neutral zone and be smart about it." Toronto has a 1-3-1 record in its past five games against Washington and its last road win in Washington was Feb. 5, 2013.

Capitals team scope

Braden Holtby will start his 29th game for the Capitals this season. Washington is second in the NHL in penalty killing percentage this season (87.3 percent), and has killed 29 consecutive penalties and 40 of 41 in the past 10 games, having not allowed a power-play goal in seven consecutive games. "We're working hard, guys are sacrificing a lot, guys are blocking a lot of shots," defenseman Karl Alzner said. "I know at the beginning of the year it didn't matter how much I thought I was in the lane, the puck wasn't hitting me and now pucks just seem to be gravitating towards myself but all the other guys too. You can see the last bunch of games we've had some huge blocked shots. I really think it's that we're getting some of the bounces now." Washington looks for its third straight win.

Maple Leafs projected lineup

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

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Justin Williams
Andre Burakovsky -- Lars Eller -- Brett Connolly
Daniel Winnik -- Jay Beagle -- Tom Wilson
Karl Alzner -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik -- Taylor Chorney
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched:Nate Schmidt
Injured:None

Status report

Chorney will replace Schmidt in the Capitals lineup for a second consecutive game. Chorney scored the game-winning goal against the Ottawa Senators in a 2-1 win on Sunday. ... The Maple Leafs assigned defenseman Frank Corrado to Toronto of the American Hockey League on Monday. ... Forward Byron Froese was loaned to Toronto of the AHL on Monday.

Who's hot

Ovechkin has five points in five games (three goals, two assists). …Williams has five points in his past four games (two goals, three assists). ... Brown has seven points in five games (three goals, four assists). … Matthews has nine points (six goals) in his past six games.