5 Keys: Bruins at Maple Leafs, Game 3

BRUINS AT MAPLE LEAFS
7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, NESN
Boston leads best-of-7 series 2-0

TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to avoid going down 3-0 when they play the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference First Round at Air Canada Centre on Monday.
The Maple Leafs are 4-16 all-time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when trailing a best-of-7 series 2-0.
The Bruins have outscored the Maple Leafs 12-4 in the series, winning 5-1 in Game 1 and 7-3 in Game 2.
Here are 5 keys for Game 3:
RELATED: [Complete Bruins vs. Maple Leafs series coverage]

1. Will Bruins top line keep rolling?

The Maple Leafs can't let the Bruins top line of center Patrice Bergeron, left wing Brad Marchand and right wing David Pastrnak continue to have their way. The three combined for 20 points in the first two games of the series. Pastrnak had a hat trick and three assists in Game 2, becoming the youngest player (21 years, 324 days) to have six points in a playoff game, surpassing Wayne Gretzky (22 years, 81 days) in 1983.
"We need to eliminate some of their space," Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen said. "They've been getting too much time maybe and they're too skilled to do that. You see the nice goals, it looks pretty easy for them but I'm sure we can fix that."

2. Bigger role for Plekanec

Center Tomas Plekanec, who has spent the majority of his time since being acquired by the Maple Leafs on Feb. 25 centering the fourth line, will move up to the second line between left wing Patrick Marleau and right wing Mitchell Marner. They're expected to be matched against the Bergeron line.
"Obviously play strong defensively, be above those guys and play as a unit of five," Plekanec said. "It's never about just one guy shutting those guys down."
Dominic Moore will play after missing the past six games as a healthy scratch; he'll center the fourth line. Forward Leo Komarov, who sustained a lower-body injury in Game 2, will not play.

3. Special teams

Boston's power play, which finished the regular season on a roll, is 5-for-10 through the first two games.
Maple Leafs defenseman Ron Hainsey, who leads the team in shorthanded ice time in the playoffs through two games (10:59), said identifying just one problem with the penalty kill is difficult.
"It would be hard to pick one (issue); they're scoring a lot, which is the biggest issue," Hainsey said. "I'm not trying to be funny. Too much zone time, too many penalties; it would be tough to pick just one (issue with the penalty kill)."
Toronto's power play is 1-for-7 through two games and failed to score on two chances in the second period of Game 1 when the score was 1-1.

4. Andersen back in goal

Andersen, who was pulled in Game 2 after allowing three goals on five shots, will start, although coach Mike Babcock was critical of him afterward.
"Your job is to get hit [with the puck] right, and so they were going in and it wasn't going very good and we needed to do something else," Babcock said.
But Babcock said Sunday that Boston's offensive success was more of a team-wide issue and that coming back with Andersen, who has allowed eight goals on 45 shots, was never in question.
"We haven't done a very good job in front of him," Babcock said. "You've got to give your goalie a chance to be good. We haven't done that. Freddie's our guy."

5. Riley Nash returns for Bruins

Riley Nash will center the third line for the Bruins after missing seven games with a lacerated right ear. He was hit in the side of the head by a shot from teammate Torey Krug on March 31 and needed 30 stitches. Nash had NHL career highs with 15 goals, 26 assists and 41 points in 76 games.
"It's not the easiest thing to do but I think the atmosphere will help," Nash said. "The guys around me have been doing a tremendous job; that will help. It's just getting a couple bangs early in the game, getting hit or hitting guys, and then it just takes your mind out of it and you're back into the flow of the game."

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Rick Nash
Danton Heinen -- Riley Nash -- David Backes
Tim Schaller -- Sean Kuraly -- Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Kevan Miller
Nick Holden -- Adam McQuaid
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Tommy Wingels, Ryan Donato, Paul Postma
Injured:Anders Bjork (shoulder), Brandon Carlo (ankle), Matt Grzelcyk (lower body)

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Zach Hyman -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander
Patrick Marleau -- Tomas Plekanec -- Mitchell Marner
James van Riemsdyk -- Tyler Bozak -- Connor Brown
Andreas Johnsson -- Dominic Moore -- Kasperi Kapanen
Morgan Rielly -- Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner -- Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott -- Roman Polak
Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched:Matt Martin, Josh Leivo, Connor Carrick
Injured: Leo Komarov (lower body)
Suspended:Nazem Kadri

Status report

Cassidy said Wingels is healthy enough to play but likely will not dress. ... Grzelcyk was injured in Game 2 and is doubtful. ... Babcock said Komarov will skate Tuesday and Wednesday and be a game-time decision for Game 4.