3 Keys: Islanders vs. Capitals, Game 2 of Eastern First Round

No. 6 Islanders vs. No. 3 Capitals

8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, FX-CA, TVAS, NBCSWA, MSG, MSG+

New York leads best-of-7 series, 1-0

Nicklas Backstrom is in concussion protocol and will not play for the Washington Capitals in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the New York Islanders at Scotiabank Arena on Friday.

Backstrom was hit by Islanders forward Anders Lee and left after the first period in a 4-2 loss in Game 1 on Wednesday in Toronto, the East hub city. He'll be replaced by center Lars Eller, who was in quarantine and did not play in Game 1 after leaving Toronto to be with his wife for the birth of their child.

"Nick is a tremendous leader for us," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said Thursday. "His body of work as a player speaks for itself, but that's next man up. Who's going to take advantage of that opportunity? That's playoff hockey."

Teams with a 2-0 lead are 324-51 (86.4 percent) winning a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series.

Here are 3 keys to Game 2:

1. Islanders must stay out of the box

New York controlled 5-on-5 play for much of Game 1 against the Capitals, much like it did against the Florida Panthers during the Stanley Cup Qualifiers. But Washington scored twice on seven power plays, and the Islanders have allowed six goals in 21 shorthanded situations (71.4 percent) in five postseason games.

"The penalty kill needs to step up, that's safe to say," New York defenseman Scott Mayfield said. "But I also think that goes into us being disciplined and making sure we don't put ourself down a man. … Everyone's trying to figure out that line you can play on. That's part of playoffs."

2. Eller returns

Eller has a history of rising to the occasion when Backstrom is out; he's scored 17 points (two goals, 15 assists) in the 26 games in which Washington has been without Backstrom or center Evgeny Kuznetsov during the past four seasons. Eller scored an NHL career-high 39 points (16 goals, 23 assists) in 69 games this season.

"Lars has done an amazing job when one of those top two centermen is down," Capitals forward Tom Wilson said. "He's done an amazing job filling in and picking up some slack. That's why it's nice to have depth at the center spot. … Guys [have] got to step up and come together as a group and rally for each other, rally for a guy like Nick and hopefully get the job done, and we'll see him back in the lineup when we see him back in the lineup."

3. Lee aims to get on roll

Lee, the Islanders captain, made his presence felt in Game 1 between his hit on Backstrom early and scoring the tying goal in the third period. It was his first of the playoffs after being held without a point in four games against the Panthers. Lee scored 20 goals during the regular season.

"Last game he makes a hit there and answers the bell when he needs to, and then obviously scores a big goal for us," Islanders forward Jordan Eberle said of Lee on Friday. "That's kind of what you want to see out of your leader. He's a leader and a captain for a reason."

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- Mathew Barzal -- Jordan Eberle

Anthony Beauvillier -- Brock Nelson -- Josh Bailey

Derick Brassard -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Leo Komarov

Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck

Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock

Devon Toews -- Scott Mayfield

Nick Leddy -- Andy Greene

Semyon Varlamov

Thomas Greiss

Scratched:Michael Dal Colle, Ross Johnston, Otto Koivula, Tom Kuhnhackl, Andrew Ladd, Sebastian Aho, Johnny Boychuk, Noah Dobson, Thomas Hickey, Christopher Gibson

Unfit to play:None

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson

Jakub Vrana -- Lars Eller -- T.J. Oshie

Carl Hagelin -- Travis Boyd -- Ilya Kovalchuk

Richard Panik -- Nic Dowd -- Garnet Hathaway

Michal Kempny -- John Carlson

Brenden Dillon -- Dmitry Orlov

Jonas Siegenthaler -- Nick Jensen

Braden Holtby

Vitek Vanecek

Scratched:Philippe Maillet, Beck Malenstyn, Connor McMichael, Brian Pinho, Daniel Sprong, Alexander Alexeyev, Martin Fehervary, Radko Gudas, Tyler Lewington, Pheonix Copley

Unfit to play:Nicklas Backstrom

Status report

Islanders coach Barry Trotz said his lineup would be "pretty well status quo" from Game 1. … Reirden said Eller would slot into Backstrom's spot on the second line.