5 Keys: Capitals at Lightning, Game 2

CAPITALS at LIGHTNING
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS
Washington leads best-of-7 series 1-0
TAMPA --The Washington Capitals will try to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2 at Amalie Arena on Sunday.

"There's nothing wrong with being greedy at this time of the year," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said.
Since 1975, teams that take a 2-0 lead in the conference final or semifinals have won the series 39 of 41 times (95.1 percent).
RELATED: [Backstrom skates with Capitals, game-time decision | Complete Lightning vs. Capitals series coverage]
The Capitals defeated the Lightning 4-2 in Game 1 on Friday. They are 6-1 on the road in the playoffs and have outscored opponents 24-15.
"Definitely the pressure is on us tonight," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.
Here are 5 keys for Game 2:

1. Washington's readiness from start

The expectation is that the Lightning will come out faster, more aggressive and looking to set the pace early.
The Capitals must be prepared for that, because the Lightning are lethal when they are in control. That's when they forecheck aggressively, play physical and make plays to earn power plays.
"I imagine we're going to get a pretty good pushback from a really good hockey team over there," Capitals forward T.J. Oshie said. "So, we're going to have to stay focused, not get ahead of ourselves. I can't imagine we're going to see the same Tampa team that we saw in the first period [of Game 1] the rest of the series."

2. Tampa Bay's forecheck

The Lightning's forecheck, a blueprint to their success this season, especially against the Boston Bruins in the second round, was rendered ineffective by the Capitals in Game 1.
"I don't think our dumps were as good as they need to be and we didn't have enough speed going through the neutral zone, so it gave them a little bit more time to break out," Lightning forward Ryan Callahan said. "To give them credit, they were moving the puck pretty well in their own end, making tape-to-tape passes, quick plays that can sometimes breakdown a forecheck.
"I think going into tonight, we need to make sure we have some speed through the neutral zone when we dump the puck in and we're on top of their 'D' quicker to make those little bump plays harder on them. That's when we're playing at our best."
However, it's difficult against the Capitals because of how well Braden Holtby plays the puck behind the net. He has been known to diffuse aggressive forechecks and that is another obstacle in the Lightning's way.

3. Eller's role, Backstrom's health

Washington center Nicklas Backstrom will be a game-time decision because of an injury to his right hand.
Backstrom, who has missed the past two games, was in the morning skate but didn't take line rushes or work with a power-play unit, so the likelihood of him returning to the lineup is slim.
The good news is the Capitals are 2-0 without Backstrom. A big reason is the improved play of Lars Eller, who has taken on Backstrom's assignments at even strength on a line with Oshie and Jakub Vrana, and on the first power-play unit.
Eller played 20:35 in Game 1, the most of any Washington forward, and scored a power-play goal and had three shots on goal.

4. Vasilevskiy's response

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed four goals on 25 shots through two periods in Game 1. He didn't play the third period and was replaced by Louis Domingue, who made seven saves.
Cooper credited Vasilevskiy for keeping the Lightning in the game through 40 minutes, but Vasilevskiy didn't absolve himself of blame.
"If you want to be a good goalie in this league, for sure [you have to respond]," Vasilevskiy said. "It's not easy, but I have to do that."

5. Puck control of Lightning

The Lightning said they were too loose with the puck in Game 1 and it resulted in turnovers. It's also a reason why they had 10 shots on goal through the first two periods.
The way to fix it is to avoid what they call "hope plays," low-percentage passes through the middle of the ice that are more likely to be intercepted than to lead to a rush chance.

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana -- Lars Eller -- T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky -- Chandler Stephenson -- Brett Connolly
Devante Smith-Pelly -- Jay Beagle -- Alex Chiasson
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Michal Kempny -- John Carlson
Brooks Orpik -- Christian Djoos
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched: Madison Bowey, Jakub Jerabek, Shane Gersich, Travis Boyd, Nathan Walker, Pheonix Copley
Injured: Nicklas Backstrom (hand)

Lightning projected lineup

J.T. Miller -- Steven Stamkos -- Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Tyler Johnson
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Yanni Gourde
Chris Kunitz -- Cedric Paquette -- Ryan Callahan
Victor Hedman -- Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh -- Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn -- Mikhail Sergachev
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Louis Domingue
Scratched: Andrej Sustr, Jake Dotchin, Slater Koekkoek, Cory Conacher, Peter Budaj
Injured: Adam Erne (lower body)

Status report

Stralman and Paquette didn't practice Saturday, but each is expected to play. Stralman skated Sunday, Paquette did not.