3 Keys: Bruins at Capitals, Game 2 of first round

No. 3 Bruins at No. 2 Capitals
7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS, NBCSWA, NESN
Washington leads best-of-7 series, 1-0

The Boston Bruins will look to even the Stanley Cup First Round against the Washington Capitals in Game 2 at Capital One Arena on Monday.
The Bruins believe they have another level to their play after being limited to 26 shots on goal in a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 1 of the best-of-7 series Saturday and failing to take advantage of the Capitals losing starting goalie Vitek Vanecek to a lower-body injury in the first period.
"As the series goes on, typically teams should get better and I expect that to be the case for us," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We're going to need to if we expect to beat this team, especially in their building."
The Capitals are expecting the Bruins to elevate their game and say they need to do the same.
"I think that's playoff hockey in general," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "You're trying to have a little more energy, a little bit better execution than your opposition. …Game 1 went our way, but it's a brand-new day today. It's up for grabs, so we're going to have to be ready to go."
Teams with a 2-0 lead are 330-51 (86.6 percent) winning best-of-7 NHL playoff series, including 4-0 in the first round last season.
Here are 3 keys for Game 2:

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1. Anderson likely to start for Capitals

With Vanecek day to day and Ilya Samsonov working his way back after exiting NHL COVID-19 protocol Saturday, Craig Anderson is expected to start for Washington. It would be his first Stanley Cup Playoff start since a 3-2 loss in double overtime in Game 7 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Final with the Ottawa Senators against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Anderson, who will turn 40 on Friday, came off the bench to stop 21 of 22 shots Saturday, showing no signs of rust after playing four games and making two starts during the regular season (2-1-0, 2.13 goals-against average, .915 save percentage).
"He came in last game and did exactly what he had to do, and we won the game," Capitals forward Anthony Mantha said. "Hopefully we can do the same thing tonight and, hopefully, he plays great hockey. He has a lot of games (under) his belt, so he knows how to be ready and how to prepare for this game tonight."
In 47 playoff games (46 starts) in his 18-season NHL career, Anderson is 24-22 with a 2.32 GAA, a .929 save percentage and four shutouts.

2. Top six forwards for Bruins

Boston's first line of Brad Marchand (one shot on goal), Patrice Bergeron (no shots on goal) and David Pastrnak (six shots on goal, power-play assist) was mostly held in check in Game 1, particularly at even strength. The second line of Taylor Hall (two shots on goal), David Krejci (two shots on goal) and Craig Smith (one shot on goal) also failed to produce.
Depth forwards Jake DeBrusk and Nick Ritchie each scored, but Boston's top forwards might need to take a simpler approach in Game 2.
"I guess maybe not looking for too much," Smith said. "Obviously you've got to hit the net, but it's either got to be a body or a stick getting on the puck. I thought we got our stick on quite a few pucks and had some good looks."

3. Physical play

Washington (51) and Boston (41) combined for 92 hits in Game 1. Defenseman Jeremy Lauzon, who won't play Game 2 because of an upper-body injury, and forward Chris Wagner each had eight hits to lead the Bruins. Defenseman Brenden Dillon and forward Michael Raffl led the Capitals with six hits each.
Expect the physicality to continue with each team hoping to wear the other down during a long series.

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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
Connor Clifton -- Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
Jeremy Swayman
Scratched:Anton Blidh, Trent Frederic, Karson Kuhlman, Greg McKegg, Oskar Steen, Jack Studnicka, Urho Vaakanainen, Jack Ahcan, Steven Kampfer, Jarred Tinordi, Callum Booth, Jaroslav Halak, Dan Vladar
Injured:Ondrej Kase (upper body), Jakub Zboril (upper body), Jeremy Lauzon (upper body)

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
Craig Anderson
Pheonix Copley
Scratched:Daniel Carr, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Philippe Maillet, Garrett Pilon, Martin Fehervary, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Ilya Samsonov
Injured:Vitek Vanecek (lower body)

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Status report

The Bruins held an optional morning skate. … Lauzon will not be available after the defenseman blocked a shot with his hand in Game 1. … Vanecek left Game 1 after the goalie attempted to make a save on DeBrusk's goal. … Kuznetsov, a forward, was removed from protocol Sunday.