5 Keys: Maple Leafs at Bruins, Game 2

MAPLE LEAFS at BRUINS
8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC , TVAS
Boston leads best-of-7 series 1-0
BOSTON -- The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without center Nazem Kadri when they take on the Boston Bruins in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round at TD Garden on Saturday.

Kadri, who was fourth on the Maple Leafs with 55 points (32 goals, 23 assists) during the regular season,
was suspended three games
for his hit on Bruins forward Tommy Wingels in the third period of
Boston's 5-1 win
in Game 1 on Thursday.
Here are 5 keys for Game 2:

1. Life without Kadri

Kadri plays many roles for Toronto, including playing on both special teams and providing a physical presence. The Maple Leafs
will try to replace him
by committee.
"He's a big part of our team, he's a physical guy," defenseman Jake Gardiner said. "Obviously, you saw that with the suspension and everything. He's a tough guy to play against. We're just going to have some guys step up, especially on the power play. He's a big part of that as well."

2. Be prepared for pushback

After being outshot 40-27 and dominated for most of the night in the series-opener, the Maple Leafs are guaranteed to come out harder and sharper in Game 2. The Bruins must be ready.
"Any team after losing the first game, you're going to come out with more fire and more attention to detail, doing all the little things," Bruins forward David Backes said. "We've got to expect that and continue to play our game with composure."

3. Boston's power play

The Bruins went 3-for-6 on the power play in Game 1, and the Maple Leafs know they can't have a repeat of that performance.
"Obviously [discipline] is very important," Toronto forward Mitchell Marner said. "Obviously their power play is very good. They have a lot of skill, a lot of power on it. We've got to make sure we stay out of the box and make sure we keep playing focused hockey."

4. Boston's penalty-killers vs. Toronto's power play

The Bruins' penalty kill was 3-for-3 in Game 1 against Toronto's power play, which ranked second in the NHL during the regular season. Even without Kadri, the Maple Leafs have a lot of weapons when they have the extra man, so the Bruins are going to have to stick to the approach that worked in Game 1.
"It's a very fine line," Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid said. "The thing is they have so many options, they're very dangerous, I guess it's just at times making the right reads and then at other times just being in the right place at the right time, your stick gets on the puck at the right time."

5. Defend home ice

A win would give the Maple Leafs a split in Boston and a possible momentum switch. Games 3 and 4 are at Air Canada Centre, where they Maple Leafs were 29-10-2 this season and have won 16 of their past 18. The Bruins were 22-12-7 on the road this season but lost twice in Toronto, where they are 0-3-1 since their last win on March 26, 2016.

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Leo Komarov -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander
Zach Hyman -- Patrick Marleau -- Mitchell Marner
James van Riemsdyk -- Tyler Bozak -- Connor Brown
Andreas Johnsson -- Tomas Plekanec -- Kasperi Kapanen
Morgan Rielly -- Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner -- Nikita Zaitsev
Tyler Dermott
-- Roman Polak
Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched:Connor Carrick, Josh Leivo, Matt Martin, Dominic Moore
Injured:None
Suspended:Nazem Kadri

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Rick Nash
Danton Heinen -- Noel Acciari -- David Backes
Tim Schaller -- Sean Kuraly -- Tommy Wingels
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Kevan Miller
Matt Grzelcyk -- Adam McQuaid
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Nick Holden, Ryan Donato, Brian Gionta
Injured:Riley Nash (ear laceration)

Status report

With Kadri out, Marleau shifts to center on the second line and Hyman drops from the first line to the second line. Komarov moves up from the fourth line to the first in Hyman's former spot. Johnsson makes his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut. ... Wingels will be a game-time decision. If he can't play, Donato is likely to replace him. Riley Nash continues to skate but remains out of the lineup.