5 Keys: Golden Knights at Sharks, Game 4

GOLDEN KNIGHTS at SHARKS
10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS
Vegas leads best-of-7 series 2-1
SAN JOSE -- The Vegas Golden Knights will try to take a 3-1 series lead against the San Jose Sharks in Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round at SAP Center on Wednesday.

The Golden Knights defeated the Sharks 4-3 in overtime in Game 3 here Monday. San Jose defeated Vegas 4-3 in the second overtime in Game 2 at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday. The Golden Knights won Game 1 on Friday, 7-0.
Teams that take a 3-1 lead in best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series have an all-time series record of 274-28, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Here are 5 keys for Game 4:
RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. San Jose Sharks series coverage]

1. Desperate Sharks

If San Jose loses, it will need to defeat Vegas three straight times, including twice on the road, to win the series.
"For them, they're going to be fired up," Golden Knights forward James Neal said. "They don't want to go back to Vegas down 3-1. So we got to know what we're going up against over there. They're going to be a hungry team, a desperate team. For us, we got to stay on the gas."

2. Lineup changes for San Jose?

Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said he had made no lineup decisions, but it appears likely that rookie defenseman Joakim Ryan will replace Paul Martin and that there will be changes on the first and third lines. Ryan came off the ice early, and Martin stayed on late in what DeBoer called an optional skate.
Center Joe Thornton, who hasn't played since injuring his right knee Jan. 23 against the Winnipeg Jets, took rushes on the top line but said he was not playing in Game 4.
Forward Evander Kane was not on the ice and has been dealing with an upper-body injury since late in the regular season, but he often misses skates. Joe Pavelski likely will skate between Kane and, based on line rushes, Barclay Goodrow, who played center on the third line in Game 3. Chris Tierney, who was center on the top line in Game 3, was back on the third line.

3. Special teams

The winner of each game in the series so far has won the special-teams battle. Neal said staying out of the penalty box will be critical in Game 4.
"It's just not retaliating," he said. "It's not punching somebody in the head. It's not slashing someone. If someone gives you a whack, you don't whack them back."
Vegas was 3-for-10 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill in the Game 1 win, and 2-for-6 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill in the Game 3 win. San Jose scored two power-play goals and didn't allow one in its Game 2 win.

4. Vegas' top line

The first line of William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith has combined for 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in the series. Karlsson has three goals and four assists, Marchessault has two goals and four assists, and Smith has one goal and five assists. Pavelski said staying out of the penalty box would help slow down that line.
"You feed those good players a little extra time and let them feel the puck a little bit, they start finding their game," Pavelski said.

5. Fleury factor

The Sharks controlled play for much of the first period in Game 3, but Marc-Andre Fleury made the save on all 16 shots he faced.
"The good thing is we're generating [shots]," DeBoer said. "You got to give Fleury credit. He was good early, but I think we just got to stick with it. You keep getting volume like that, you hope eventually it breaks."

Golden Knights projected lineup

Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
James Neal -- Erik Haula -- Alex Tuch
David Perron -- Cody Eakin -- Tomas Tatar
Tomas Nosek -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- William Carrier
Brayden McNabb -- Nate Schmidt
Shea Theodore -- Deryk Engelland
Jon Merrill -- Colin Miller
Marc-Andre Fleury
Malcolm Subban
Scratched:Ryan Carpenter, Ryan Reaves, Oscar Lindberg, Luca Sbisa, Brad Hunt
Injured:None

Sharks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Joe Pavelski -- Barclay Goodrow
Tomas Hertl -- Logan Couture -- Mikkel Boedker
Timo Meier -- Chris Tierney -- Kevin Labanc
Marcus Sorensen -- Eric Fehr -- Melker Karlsson
Joakim Ryan -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon -- Dylan DeMelo
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched:Paul Martin, Joel Ward, Jannik Hansen, Dylan Gambrell
Injured:Joe Thornton (knee), Joonas Donskoi (lower body)

Status report

The Golden Knights had the same forward lines and defense pairs from Game 3 during their morning skate. ... Donskoi, who missed Game 3, did not skate. ... Ryan hasn't played since March 16 against the Calgary Flames.