3 Keys: Panthers at Bruins, Game 2 of Eastern 1st Round

(WC2) Panthers at (1A) Bruins
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 2
7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, NESN, BSFL
Boston leads best-of-7 series 1-0

BOSTON --The Boston Bruins look to make a statement and get their second win of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden on Wednesday.
Boston leads the best-of-7 series 1-0 following a 3-1 win in the series opener Monday.
At the same time, the Panthers will be seeking a toehold in the series before heading home to FLA Live Arena for Game 3 on Friday.
But each team has crucial questions leading up to Game 2.
Boston had to contend with the absence of captain Patrice Bergeron in Game 1, using their depth to win despite being without their top-line center.
Though Bergeron is progressing, according to coach Jim Montgomery, he will again be out for Game 2.
The question for Florida lies with its goaltending. The Panthers went with Alex Lyon in net on Monday and he allowed three goals on 29 shots. Despite that being his third straight loss, going back to the final two games of the regular season, Florida will go back to Lyon for Game 2.
"We liked a lot of our first 36 minutes and didn't care much for our last 24," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "So much of playoff success comes from truly learning and, it's not even so much making adjustments in your game -- that happens, for sure -- but it's almost adjusting back to form when you come out of form, when you come out of the things you are built to do and do well."
RELATED: [Complete Bruins vs. Panthers series coverage]
Players from each team admitted to jitters prior to the opener, but those should no longer be a concern for Game 2.
"Just keep getting better within our own game," Montgomery said. "You need to get better, you know Florida's going to get better. If you get better throughout the series, you usually win the series. Game 1s aren't one series of one; it's as it continues to advance and the team that gets better is the one that separates from the other."
Here are 3 keys for Game 2:

1. Faith in Lyon

Maurice was full of compliments for Lyon after Game 1; it was the goalie's first Stanley Cup Playoff game and Maurice called his effort "fantastic."
Which was why Maurice opted to go back to Lyon for Game 2 rather than switching in Sergei Bobrovsky.
"He played exceptionally, exceptionally well in that game," Maurice said. "Certainly, cliches, it's not the ones you make, it's the ones you leave. But he was just too good in that game; all three of those 2-on-1s he made saves on that Boston got the puck to the net on great scoring chances.
"He just looks exactly the way he's looked really for the last two or three weeks. After the second goal, he was outstanding."

2. Bennett in, Bergeron out

There was good news for Florida and bad news for Boston on the injury front.
The Panthers will be getting Sam Bennett back for the first time since March 20, after the center missed 13 games with a groin injury.
Bennett had 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 63 games during the regular season.
"It can be a real challenge when you lose a center iceman and you have to move people around," Maurice said. "It can be difficult. He's an important piece to our team. He's also an energy player and a driver for us. It's not just the goals. It's the physicality, it's the heaviness down low, the pace that he plays at."
For the Bruins, Bergeron will miss his second straight game to start the postseason. He took the ice ahead of Boston's morning skate Wednesday but did not participate with his teammates.
"He's progressing well, so he's day by day but he's a 'no' for tonight," Montgomery said.

3. Controlling Barkov, again

The Bruins did an excellent job of keeping Aleksander Barkov, one of the Panthers' best players, under wraps in Game 1. The Florida captain had no points and no shots on goal in 19:51 of ice time after he had 78 points (23 goals, 55 assists) in 68 games this season, second on the team behind forward Matthew Tkachuk (109 points; 40 goals, 69 assists).
"I just think defenseman
[Hampus] Lindholm
and defenseman Brandon Carlo] did a really good job of having great gaps against that line," Montgomery said. "I don't look at it like a Barkov thing. I look at it like the line -- like [forward
[Carter] Verhaeghe
has [42] goals - and for the most part we did a really good job. Altogether, we did a really good job."
Conversely, for the Panthers, they need to get that line going. Especially Barkov.
"That line, I think, as a group can drive pucks to the net a little bit differently than they did," Maurice said.

Panthers projected lineup

Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Anthony Duclair
Eetu Luostarinen -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Ryan Lomberg -- Anton Lundell -- Sam Reinhart
Nick Cousins -- Eric Staal - Colin White
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Marc Staal -- Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura -- Radko Gudas
Alex Lyon
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Givani Smith, Zac Dalpe, Mike Benning, Casey Fitzgerald, Evan Fitzpatrick
Injured: Patric Hornqvist (concussion)

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Pavel Zacha -- Jake DeBrusk
Tyler Bertuzzi -- David Krejci -- David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall -- Charlie Coyle -- Trent Frederic
Nick Foligno -- Tomas Nosek -- Garnet Hathaway
Dmitry Orlov -- Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm -- Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort -- Connor Clifton
Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman
Scratched: Jakub Zboril, Jakub Lauko, Brandon Bussi , Matt Grzelcyk, A.J. Greer
Injured: Patrice Bergeron (upper body)

Status report

Bennett is expected to play on the second line between Luostarinen and Tkachuk. ... Ullmark will start again after making 31 saves in Game 1.
NHL.com independent correspondent Joe Pohoryles contributed to this report