5 Keys: Lightning at Bruins, Game 3

LIGHTNING at BRUINS
7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS
Best-of-7 series tied 1-1
BOSTON --The Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning each will look to take the series lead in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at TD Garden on Wednesday.

The Lightning tied the best-of-7 series with a 4-2 win in Game 2 at Amalie Arena on Monday. Boston opened the series with a 6-2 win in Game 1.
RELATED: [Wingels replaces Schaller for Bruins in Game 3 | Complete Lightning vs. Bruins series coverage]
Tampa Bay is 6-31-4 with five ties in 46 regular-season games at TD Garden since it opened in 1995, including 0-2-0 this season, and 1-3 in four Stanley Cup Playoff games. Boston is 3-1 at home in the 2018 playoffs.
Here are 5 keys for Game 3:

1. Better start at home for Boston

The Bruins weren't happy with how they played in the first period of either of the first two games. They're hoping to use home crowd to their advantage at the outset of Game 3.
"It definitely helps," Bruins center Patrice Bergeron said. "When you play with momentum and you play the right way, the crowd is into it and you definitely use that to your advantage."

2. More from Stamkos' line

Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and J.T. Miller, Tampa Bay's first line, were held off the scoresheet in Games 1 and 2 after combining for 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in five games in the first round.
Following a rough performance in Game 1, Lightning coach Jon Cooper challenged Brayden Point, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat, Tampa Bay's second line, to be better in Game 2. They delivered with seven points (three goals, four assists), including a goal and three assists from Point.
It might be time to issue the same type of challenge to Stamkos, Kucherov and Miller.
"It's tough when guys that are used to getting points go a couple games off the sheet because they're proud guys and they demand a lot from themselves," Cooper said. "They're going to have an impact on the series. They're up for the challenge."

3. Matchup game

Cooper assigned Point, Palat and Johnson, along with defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Anton Stralman, to check Boston's top line of Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak in Game 1. It didn't work then, but it did in Game 2.
The Bruins, though, have home-ice advantage now and with that comes the last-change advantage. It'll be interesting to see if Boston coach Bruce Cassidy tries to go best-on-best, using Bergeron's line, with defensemen Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy, against Stamkos' line.
"I'm definitely no stranger to playing against Bergeron, I've done it my whole career," Stamkos said. "If we do see those guys, we know what we're in for. Hopefully that's a challenge that can maybe spark us."

4. Secondary scoring

The Bruins' bottom-six forwards are pointless through the first two games of the series. But the third line of Riley Nash between Danton Heinen and David Backes, and the fourth line of Sean Kuraly, Noel Acciari and Tim Schaller, also have struggled to forecheck and maintain puck possession. Tommy Wingels will replace Schaller in Game 3.
"We just have to play our game and be physical," Kuraly said. "I think we really weren't able to get in on the forecheck like we wanted to. … We want to be a lot better in all aspects to be able to get in on the forecheck."

5. Face-offs

The Lightning surprisingly have had the edge in face-offs through two games, winning 54.1 percent (59 of 109), including 56.9 percent in Game 2 (33 of 58), and eight of nine face-offs on special teams.
Tampa Bay finished the regular season 27th (48.2 percent) in face-offs; Boston was 11th (50.7 percent). Bergeron was 57.3 percent on face-offs during the regular season; he's 52.2 percent against the Lightning and has been tossed out of the circle on many occasions as well.

Lightning projected lineup

J.T. Miller -- Steven Stamkos -- Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Tyler Johnson
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Yanni Gourde
Chris Kunitz -- Cedric Paquette -- Ryan Callahan
Victor Hedman -- Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh -- Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn -- Mikhail Sergachev
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Louis Domingue
Scratched: Andrej Sustr, Jake Dotchin, Slater Koekkoek, Cory Conacher, Peter Budaj
Injured: Adam Erne (lower body)

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Rick Nash
Danton Heinen -- Riley Nash -- David Backes
Tommy Wingels -- Sean Kuraly -- Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Kevan Miller
Matt Grzelcyk -- Adam McQuaid
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Tim Schaller, Brian Gionta, Ryan Donato, Nick Holden, Dan Vladar
Injured: None

Status report

Gourde missed the morning skate because his wife gave birth Tuesday in Florida. He had arrived in Boston by noon and will play. ... Schaller will miss his first game of the season. He played all 82 regular-season games and the Bruins' first nine playoff games.
-- NHL.com Correspondent Matt Kalman contributed to this report