3 Keys: Bruins at Capitals, Game 1 of first round

No. 3 Bruins at No. 2 Capitals
7:15 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS

The Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals know each other well heading into Game 1 of the Stanley Cup First Round at Capital One Arena on Saturday.
Boston and Washington played eight games during the regular season in the MassMutual East Division, with each team winning four. Defenseman Zdeno Chara played 14 seasons for the Bruins before signing with the Capitals as an unrestricted free agent Dec. 30.
"Obviously, playing for this coaching staff for as long as Zdeno has and playing with the players that he has for his tenure here in Boston, you certainly know some tendencies," Bruins president Cam Neely said. "Guys are aware of that. But also, on the flip side, guys certainly know how Zdeno is going to play and what to expect from him and maybe how to exploit that a little bit as well."
Chara downplayed whatever inside information he could contribute.
"Playing them eight times during the regular season probably gives enough information to the coaches," he said.
Although Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said Chara could be "a good resource" he agreed the teams know almost everything about each other.
"There's a lot of information that we already have on them and they have on us," Laviolette said. "I don't think there's a lot of surprises that go on with regard to that. I always think that the way it gets decided is on the ice with the execution and the level of play of the team."
Washington (36-15-5) finished second in the East and Boston (33-16-7) was third. Each team won twice at home and twice on the road in the regular-season series. The Bruins outscored the Capitals 26-24.
Teams that win Game 1 are 490-222 (68.8 percent) winning a best-of-7 NHL playoff series, including 7-1 in the first round last season.
Here are 3 keys for Game 1:

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1. Carlson returns, Oshie game-time decision, Kuznetsov remains out

Defenseman John Carlson will play for Washington after missing the final two regular-season games with a lower-body injury, and forward T.J. Oshie will be a game-time decision after sitting out the regular-season finale against Boston on Tuesday because of a lower-body injury.
Center Evgeny Kuznetsov remains in NHL COVID-19 protocol, and goalie Ilya Samsonov was removed Saturday. It's unclear when either will be available to play. Forwards Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom each returned from a lower-body injury Tuesday.
"You see a lot of guys out on the ice, a lot of guys that were moved in and out of a lineup for a reason down the stretch and they're back," Laviolette said. "So that's a real positive for our group."

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2. Bruins improved scoring depth

Boston's top line of Brad Marchand (seven goals, six assists), Patrice Bergeron (three goals, six assists) and David Pastrnak (three goals, five assists) combined to score 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists) in seven games against Washington before being rested for their final regular-season game.
The Bruins acquired forward Taylor Hall in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on April 12 and formed a potent second line with David Krejci and Craig Smith. In 16 regular-season games since the trade, Hall (eight goals, six assists), Krejci (six goals, 15 assists) and Smith (five goals, five assists) have combined to score 45 points (19 goals, 26 assists).
"For the opposition, it's a tougher call now on who you're going to deploy your best checkers against," Cassidy said. "Is it going to Bergeron's (line) or Krejci's?"

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3. Rask vs. Vanecek

The Bruins have a clear advantage in goaltending experience with Tuukka Rask being the veteran of 93 NHL playoff starts (51-42, 2.20 goals-against average, .926 save percentage, seven shutouts), including the Stanley Cup Final in 2013 and 2019. The Capitals' expected starter, Vitek Vanecek, will make his NHL playoff debut after leading rookies in wins (21-10-4) with a 2.69 GAA, .908 save percentage and two shutouts in 37 games (36 starts) during the regular season.
"At the start, I was feeling like I was a rookie, getting new things, learning the NHL," Vanecek said. "But then, I [started] playing more and more games, I wasn't feeling like a rookie anymore. I was feeling like I've been here forever."
Vanecek was 4-3-0 with a 2.86 GAA and .905 save percentage against the Bruins during the regular season. Although Rask has four wins in 23 games against the Capitals (4-11-7, 3.03 GAA, .894 save percentage, two shutouts), he's 2-0-2 with a 2.70 GAA and .913 save percentage against them over the past two seasons.

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Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall -- David Krejci -- Craig Smith
Nick Ritchie -- Sean Kuraly -- Charlie Coyle
Jake DeBrusk -- Curtis Lazar -- Chris Wagner
Matt Grzelcyk -- Charlie McAvoy
Mike Reilly -- Brandon Carlo
Jeremy Lauzon -- Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
Jeremy Swayman
Scratched: Anton Blidh, Trent Frederic, Karson Kuhlman, Jack Achan, Stevan Kampfer, John Moore, Jarred Tinordi, Urho Vaakanainen, Connor Clifton, Callum Booth, Jaroslav Halak, Dan Vladar
Injured:Ondrej Kase (upper body), Jakub Zboril (upper body)

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Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Anthony Mantha
Conor Sheary -- Lars Eller -- Michael Raffl
Daniel Sprong -- T.J. Oshie -- Tom Wilson
Carl Hagelin -- Nic Dowd -- Garnet Hathaway
Dmitry Orlov -- John Carlson
Brenden Dillon -- Justin Schultz
Nick Jensen -- Zdeno Chara
Vitek Vanecek
Craig Anderson
Scratched:Philippe Maillet, Garrett Pilon, Martin Fehervary, Trevor van Riemsdyk , Pheonix Copley, Ilya Samsonov
Injured:None
COVID-19 protocol:Evgeny Kuznetsov

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Status report

Coyle, who missed the past four games with an upper-body injury, and Miller, who missed practice Friday (maintenance), are expected to play. … Zboril, a defenseman, left a 2-1 loss to the Capitals on Tuesday. ... Samsonov, a goalie, was removed from COVID-19 protocol Saturday. … Kase, a forward, did not play in the third period of a 3-2 overtime win against the Islanders on Monday and did not play Tuesday.