5 Keys: Golden Knights at Capitals, Game 4

GOLDEN KNIGHTS at CAPITALS
8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS
Washington leads best-of-7 series 2-1
WASHINGTON --The Washington Capitals will move within one win of their first NHL championship by defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final at Capital One Arena on Monday.

The Capitals have won the past two games after losing Game 1.
The Golden Knights have lost two in a row for the first time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and trail in a series for the second time. They lost Game 1 to the Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference Final but won the next four.
RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Capitals series coverage]
"It's a must-win for us," Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault said.
Here are 5 keys for Game 4:

1. Changes for Vegas

Forward Tomas Tatar, a healthy scratch for the past five games, will play.
"He's a goal-scorer," coach Gerard Gallant said. "We wanted to change the lineup a little bit, obviously, losing two games in a row. Gives us a little bit more offense."
Gallant wouldn't confirm who Tatar will replace, but it'll likely be David Perron, who didn't take line rushes and stayed on the ice for extra work at the morning skate.
Vegas was also trailing in a series the last time Tatar returned to the lineup after consecutive games as a healthy scratch (Game 2 against Winnipeg). He scored and the Golden Knights won 3-1.

2. Vegas' top line

The Golden Knights need more from Marchessault, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith. All three were held off the score sheet in Game 3. Smith and Karlsson did not have a shot on goal. Marchessault had four.
Marchessault said his line needs to play more like the fourth line of Ryan Reaves, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Tomas Nosek because they've been keeping it simple by chipping pucks into the zone and forechecking aggressively.
"It's on us to step up," Marchessault said. "At the end of the day, you need to get those big goals. I think we're pretty happy to get a couple of chances, but for our group it's not good enough. I think we need more."

3. Neutral zone

The Capitals won the past two games in this area of the ice.
They were strong at each blue line and controlled the middle by negating Vegas' speed. The Golden Knights were also at times their own worst enemy by turning over the puck.
"You ask any skilled player, they want to have the puck with possession and speed, so if you can be in their face, just standing in the way, it's amazing what that does," Washington defenseman Matt Niskanen said. "Make them move the puck sooner than they want to."

4. Controlling Ovechkin

Vegas must figure out a way to neutralize Washington forward Alex Ovechkin, who was all over the ice in Game 3 and has scored in each of the past two games.
In addition to his goal, Ovechkin finished Game 3 with five shots on goal, 10 total shot attempts, two blocked shots and two hits.
Ovechkin has scored 14 goals in the playoffs, tied with John Druce (1990) for most in a single postseason in Capitals history.

5. Keep protecting Holtby

It's essential for the Capitals to insulate goalie Braden Holtby with layers of coverage in front of him.
Holtby is one of the best goalies in the NHL, but his job has been easier the past two games because the Capitals have made it difficult on the Golden Knights to get shots on goal and traffic in front of him when they do.
Vegas had 62 shot attempts in Game 3; 22 were on net. Washington had 26 blocked shots. The Golden Knights had 39 shots on goal in Game 2, but 25 came from at least 30 feet out, many without a screen in front of Holtby.

Golden Knights projected lineup

Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
James Neal -- Erik Haula -- Alex Tuch
Tomas Tatar -- Cody Eakin -- Ryan Carpenter
Tomas Nosek -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb -- Nate Schmidt
Shea Theodore -- Deryk Engelland
Luca Sbisa -- Colin Miller
Marc-Andre Fleury
Maxime Lagace
Scratched:Jon Merrill, Brad Hunt, Oscar Lindberg, David Perron
Injured:William Carrier (undisclosed), Malcolm Subban (undisclosed)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky -- Lars Eller -- Brett Connolly
Chandler Stephenson -- Jay Beagle -- Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Michal Kempny -- John Carlson
Brooks Orpik -- Christian Djoos
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched:Alex Chiasson, Madison Bowey, Jakub Jerabek, Shane Gersich, Travis Boyd, Nathan Walker, Pheonix Copley
Injured:None

Status report

Gallant said there might be another change to Vegas' lineup, but he didn't comment futher. … Smith-Pelly is expected to play despite getting hit on his left cheek by a Burakovsky slap shot during the morning skate. The Capitals medical staff closed the cut with glue. Smith-Pelly said he wasn't sure if he needed stitches because he was still bleeding after the skate.