3 Keys: Maple Leafs at Lightning, Game 4 of Eastern First Round

(2A) Maple Leafs at (3A) Lightning
7 p.m. ET; TBS, CBC, SN, TVAS, BSSUN
Toronto leads best-of-7 series, 2-1

The Tampa Bay Lightning will attempt to go 16-0 following a loss in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2020 when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Amalie Arena on Sunday.
The Lightning are looking to avoid becoming the sixth defending Stanley Cup champion since the 1993 playoffs to trail 3-1 in the opening round of a best-of-7 series the following season. They chose to not have a morning skate following a 5-2 loss in Game 3 on Friday.
With games being played every second day, rest management will be important moving forward.
"It's not uncommon for us to do this," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "And it just happens that it's Mother's Day as well, so that was a benefit for us.
"Our focus is this playoff series and the games. We know exactly what we have to do. We dealt with a lot of things at practice] yesterday. We had a couple of guys commit errors. I'd rather have them get away from the noise and get away from it a little bit."
A victory would give the Maple Leafs a 3-1 series lead, something coach Sheldon Keefe said his players are aware of.
"You want to win," Keefe said. "Every game is important and valuable. Of course, we love the opportunity to go home up 3-1. Much like when they were in Toronto, you go on the road looking for a split. When you come away with winning the first one, you kind of say 'Let's get greedy here.'"
***[RELATED: [Complete Maple Leafs vs. Lightning series coverage]*
Here are 3 keys for Game 4:

1. On the blocks

Part of Toronto's success in Game 3 was the willingness to sacrifice bodies for the cause, with 13 skaters blocking at least one shot in the victory, including a Maple Leafs-high four by forward Mitch Marner.
"That's really big," Keefe said. "I mean, that's the time of year. That's one of the areas we talk to our guys about, the expectation and diligence we have in that area."

2. Lightning stars need to shine

The Maple Leafs have held Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay's top two scorers during the regular season, to zero goals at 5-on-5 through the first three games of the series, though Cooper said he is not concerned with their offensive struggles. "I don't think anywhere in this series one line has dominated another," he said. "Special teams have shown up, and it's an entirely different animal."

3. Shuffling the deck

The Maple Leafs are expected to start with Alex Kerfoot on the top line to the left of Auston Matthews and Marner. Michael Bunting started Game 3 in that spot but was replaced by Kerfoot midway through. Bunting will play on the fourth line with Colin Blackwell and Jason Spezza, meaning Kyle Clifford and Wayne Simmonds won't play.

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Alexander Kerfoot -- Auston Matthews -- Mitch Marner
William Nylander -- John Tavares -- Ondrej Kase
Ilya Mikheyev -- David Kampf -- Pierre Engvall
Michael Bunting -- Colin Blackwell -- Jason Spezza
Morgan Rielly -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Mark Giordano -- Justin Holl
Jake Muzzin -- TJ Brodie
Jack Campbell
Erik Kallgren
Scratched:Wayne Simmonds, Timothy Liljegren, Nick Abruzzese, Kyle Clifford, Joey Anderson
Injured:Rasmus Sandin (knee), Petr Mrazek (groin)

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Steven Stamkos -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Brayden Point
Brandon Hagel -- Ross Colton -- Nick Paul
Patrick Maroon -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Corey Perry
Victor Hedman -- Erik Cernak
Ryan McDonagh -- Zach Bogosian
Mikhail Sergachev -- Cal Foote
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Brian Elliott
Scratched:Riley Nash, Jan Rutta
Injured:None

Status report

The Maple Leafs held an optional skate after a full practice Saturday.