Toronto @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 28, 2019 ) NY Rangers 5, Toronto 4

The Toronto Maple Leafs let precious points get away in the third period last time out and look to rebound without their No. 1 goalie in the net when they visit the New York Rangers on Wednesday night. The Maple Leafs lost All-Star goalie Frederik Andersen in the second period with a neck injury Monday and coughed a two-goal lead in the third period of a 5-3 loss to Florida at home to drop into fourth place in the Atlantic Division.

“It just got away from us,” Toronto’s leading scorer Auston Matthews told reporters of the collapse. “For 45 minutes, we played some of our best hockey in the last couple of weeks. It got away from us and they took advantage of their opportunities.” Andersen is considered day-to-day and could return Friday at home against Anaheim while backup Michael Hutchinson (4-8-1, .886 save percentage) is expected to get the start Wednesday as the Maple Leafs try to win the rubber match of the three-game season series after the road team won the first two. The Rangers have lost three of their last five games, capped by a 5-3 loss to Dallas on Monday, to fall further out of playoff contention. “We know we all need to play with our speed, with our skill, with our physicality, and if we do that we feel like we can play with anyone in the league,” New York defenseman Brady Skjei told reporters. "We’ve got to stay with that structure through a whole 60 minutes.”

TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: MSG, Sportsnet

ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (28-18-7): Matthews scored his third goal in four games and team-leading 37th of the season Monday and tops Toronto with 62 points - nine more than right wing Mitch Marner, who has a goal and six assists in his past five contests. Right wing William Nylander on Monday posted his sixth goal during an eight-game point streak to reach 25 for the first time in his career - second-most on the team. Captain John Tavares recorded his 19th goal last time out to snap a four-game point drought and fellow forward Zach Hyman has scored twice and set up three others in the last four contests.

ABOUT THE RANGERS (25-22-4): New York announced it will give rookie goalie Igor Shesterkin (3-1-0, .927 SP) his fifth NHL start after the 24-year-old Russian allowed 10 goals combined in his first four outings. Left wing Artemi Panarin managed one assist in the last two games, but registered 16 of his team-leading 71 points in the past nine contests with five goals during that stretch. Right wing Chris Kreider (18 goals, 35 points), an unrestricted free agent after the season who could be dealt before the trade deadline Feb. 24, missed Monday’s game with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day.

OVERTIME

1. New York LW Pavel Buchnevich has three goals in his last four games to reach double digits (10) for the third straight season.

2. Toronto RW Kasperi Kapanen had an assist Monday after being scratched from the previous game for disciplinary reasons.

3. Rangers rookie RW Kaapo Kakko had an assist Monday to set a franchise record for points as an 18-year-old (17).

PREDICTION: Maple Leafs 4, Rangers 3