3 Keys: Lightning vs. Bruins, Game 4 of Eastern Second Round

No. 2 Lightning vs. No. 4 Bruins
Noon ET; NBC, SN, TVAS
Tampa Bay leads best-of-7 series, 2-1

Jaroslav Halak is expected to start for the Boston Bruins when they try to even the best-of-7, Eastern Conference Second Round series against the Tampa Lightning at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Saturday.
The goalie was pulled at 11:18 of the second period in a 7-1 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday after allowing four goals on 16 shots. Dan Vladar made 12 saves on 15 shots in relief in his NHL debut.
Halak has lost his past two starts after winning his previous four since goalie Tuukka Rask opted out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Aug. 15.
Andrei Vasilevskiy likely will start for the Lightning. He has started all 11 postseason games and is 8-3-0 with a 2.06 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.
Forward Nikita Kucherov, who has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past two games, needs one goal to pass Martin St. Louis for the most playoff goals in Lightning history. Kucherov has 33 goals in 76 postseason games.
The game was rescheduled from Friday after the players on the eight remaining teams decided not to play as a form of protest against systemic racism and police brutality.
Here are 3 keys for Game 4:

1. Boston's response

Prior to Game 3, the Bruins lost by at least six goals once this season (9-3 to the Vancouver Canucks, Feb. 22).
Coach Bruce Cassidy said the Bruins will put that in the past and look to even the series.
"We're licking our wounds today," Cassidy said Thursday. "But we'll be better."

2. Lightning must stay hungry

Tampa Bay has controlled the play in most of this series, including in its only loss (3-2 in Game 1 on Sunday). The Lightning won 4-3 in overtime in Game 2 on Tuesday before the victory Wednesday.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper called Game 3 an "aberration."
"It's not the first one to two [wins], it's the first one to four," he said.

3. Surging power plays

The Bruins have scored one power-play goal in each of the first three games. Brad Marchand scored their only power-play goal in Game 3, giving him seven goals in his past seven games.
The Lightning were 3-for-6 on the power play in Game 3 and scored on three straight chances after failing to convert on their first opportunity of the game. Before those three goals, Tampa Bay had not scored on its previous 17 power-play opportunities.
"We've been on the wrong end of those pretty much this entire playoffs," Cooper said. "Probably as many power plays [in Game 3] as we've had in a couple weeks combined, and you have to take advantage of them."

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Tyler Johnson
Barclay Goodrow -- Yanni Gourde -- Blake Coleman
Pat Maroon -- Cedric Paquette
Victor Hedman -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Mikhail Sergachev -- Erik Cernak
Braydon Coburn -- Zach Bogosian
Luke Schenn
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Mathieu Joseph, Jan Rutta, Alexander Volkov, Scott Wedgewood, Mitchell Stephens, Carter Verhaeghe
Unfit to play: Steven Stamkos, Ryan McDonagh

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Ondrej Kase
Nick Ritchie -- Charlie Coyle -- Karson Kuhlman
Joakim Nordstrom -- Par Lindholm
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk -- Connor Clifton
John Moore
Jaroslav Halak
Dan Vladar
Scratched: Trent Frederic, Zach Senyshyn, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Maxime Lagace, Anders Bjork, Chris Wagner , Jeremy Lauzon
Unfit to play:* Sean Kuraly*

Status report

Kuraly (unfit) will miss his second straight game. ... McDonagh's status is unkown after the defenseman missed Game 3.