Chicago @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 7, 2018 ) Toronto 7, Chicago 6

The notion of the Toronto Maple Leafs being fatigued was a tired one in the eyes of Auston Matthews, who provided a scathing assessment of his team's performance in its last outing. After seeing his team surrender six goals for the second time in six games, Matthews wants to see more pep in the Maple Leafs' step on Wednesday when they host the Chicago Blackhawks at Scotiabank Arena.

"The effort just wasn't there at times, and in the third period we pretty much just quit," Matthews said following Monday's 6-2 trouncing by Tampa Bay. "So, that's on us as players. We have to wake up and do a much better job and hold each other accountable." The 21-year-old Matthews, who will play in his 200th NHL game on Wednesday, scored in the second period against the Lightning and collected two goals and two assists in Toronto's 7-6 overtime win over Chicago on Oct. 7. Patrick Kane scored twice in that contest and also tallied during Monday's 7-1 romp over Arizona to help the Blackhawks win their third in a row and give him at least a point in 31 of his last 35 games. Captain Jonathan Toews also scored versus the Maple Leafs and Coyotes, with his latter tally -- via a penalty shot -- allowing him to reach the 30-goal plateau for the first time since 2010-11.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, Sportsnet, TVAS (Toronto)

ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (30-30-9): Brendan Perlini picked a fine time to record his first career hat trick, as he upped his goal total to six in his last five games after tallying three times versus the team that selected him with the 12th overall pick of the 2014 NHL Draft. "It's obviously great," the 22-year-old Perlini said. "I just wanted to get the win in general but to do that was awesome. I'll just move on here and hopefully, carry the momentum and keep playing good games moving forward." Linemate Dylan Strome, who was acquired with him from Arizona on Nov. 25 for Nick Schmaltz, has collected 27 (seven goals, 20 assists) of his 47 points this season in the last 22 games.

ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (42-22-5): Morgan Rielly found himself on the defensive after television cameras picked up what sounded like a homophobic slur as the blue-liner and Tampa Bay's Yanni Gourde skated into the zone on a dump-in, but the NHL determined that he did not say the word. The 25-year-old Rielly has been on the offensive as it relates to the scoreboard with 65 points, including two assists before tallying 19 seconds into overtime in the previous meeting against the Blackhawks. John Tavares notched his ninth career hat trick in that encounter and had eight points (two goals, six assists) in four games before being held off the scoresheet versus the Lightning.

OVERTIME

1. Chicago G Corey Crawford has turned aside 50 of 52 shots in his last two games.

2. Toronto LW Andreas Johnsson has collected 27 of his 37 points on home ice.

3. The Blackhawks are 0-for-14 on the power play in the last five contests.

PREDICTION: Maple Leafs 5, Blackhawks 4