3 Keys: Panthers at Capitals, Game 4 of Eastern First Round

(1A) Panthers at (2WC) Capitals
7 p.m. ET; TBS, SN1, TVAS2, NBCSWA, BSFL
Washington leads best-of-7 series 2-1

The Florida Panthers will look to rebound again against the Washington Capitals in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Capital One Arena on Monday.
The Panthers responded to 4-2 loss in Game 1 with a 5-1 victory in Game 2 and must answer the Capitals again following a 6-1 defeat in Game 3 on Saturday.
"I think we've answered the bell all year and tonight is no different," Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said. "We've just got to get to our game. I think it's important to get off to a good start tonight, but to me the big picture is just executing a little bit more with the puck, supporting the puck a bit more and playing a little faster."
RELATED: [Complete Panthers vs Capitals series coverage]
Brunette said Florida will stay with the same lineup as Game 3 but might tweak its line combinations and defense pairs. The Panthers mainly want to be better at maintaining their pace on the offensive attack and controlling the puck.
After the Panthers scored a League-leading 4.11 goals per game on their way to winning the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL leader in points with 122 (58-18-6) during the regular season, they have had trouble utilizing their skill and speed against the Capitals' forecheck and structure through the neutral zone.
Florida got off to a good start in Game 3, taking a 1-0 lead on Jonathan Huberdeau's goal 2:45 into the first period, but Washington gradually took over control of the game and its pace.
"That's just playoff hockey," Panthers defenseman Ben Chiarot said. "It's going to swing back and forth. They're an experienced group. When they get things going their way, they know how to kind of hang onto it. It's something we're still kind of figuring out. So we're learning as we go here and we need to be getting better at that tonight."
Conversely, the Capitals wants to build off what they did in Game 3 and keep the pressure on the Panthers. Washington wasn't satisfied with its performance in Game 2 after winning Game 1.
"We've got to be ready for again their best game of the year," Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen said. "They're fighting, a limited amount of games. They don't want to go down 3-1. This is going to be the most desperate game of the year and they're going to be playing as hard as they can, and we've got to match that intensity."
Teams that take a 3-1 lead hold an all-time series record of 296-30 (90.8 percent) in a best-of-7 NHL playoff series, including 5-1 in the 2021 playoffs.
Here are 3 keys for Game 4:

1. Better best players

The Capitals top players were their best players in Game 3 with Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson each having a goal and an assist, Nicklas Backstrom and Anthony Mantha each having two assists, and T.J. Oshie scoring a power-play goal. The Panthers need more from their best players to even the series.
Although Huberdeau scored in Game 3, he has two points in the series (one goal, one assist) after tying for second in the NHL during the regular season with 115 points (30 goals, 85 assists) in 80 games. Aleksander Barkov has been held to a goal and an assist in the series, each in the first period of Game 2, after scoring 88 points (39 goals, 49 assists) in 67 regular-season games.
"We just need them to be them, nothing more, nothing less," Brunette said. "We don't have to try too hard to be something we're not. We just need to be us."

2 Net difference

The Capitals had more success against Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky in Game 3, scoring five goals on 30 shots (plus an empty-net goal), after he stopped 60 of 64 shots in the first two games of the series. Florida needs Bobrovsky to bounce back, and to do a better job getting to Washington goalie Ilya Samsonov.
After stopping all 17 shots he faced after replacing Vitek Vanecek to begin the third period of Game 2, Samsonov stopped 29 of 30 shots in his first start of the series in Game 3.
"I think we've got to make it harder on their goaltender, getting more screens, getting more shots and just make it a long night for him," Panthers forward Anthony Duclair said.

3. Something special

The Capitals have been the better team on special teams through the first three games. Washington is 4-for-12 on the power play and Florida is 0-for-9 in the series. The Capitals limited the Panthers to 10 shots on goal during those nine power plays.
"Right now, we've been good, and it's going to be key to continue to be good," Capitals forward Lars Eller said. "It's a really crucial area. I think we've been pretty good all year. There's been ups and downs but generally I think of us as a good penalty kill. Most of the time your goalie needs to be your best penalty killer and [Samsonov] played great last game."

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Anthony Duclair
Carter Verhaeghe -- Sam Bennett -- Sam Reinhart
Mason Marchment -- Anton Lundell -- Claude Giroux
Noel Acciari -- Eetu Luostarinen -- Patric Hornqvist
MacKenzie Weegar -- Aaron Ekblad
Gustav Forsling -- Radko Gudas
Ben Chiarot -- Brandon Montour
Sergei Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight
Scratched: Petteri Lindbohm, Joe Thornton, Lucas Carlsson, Maxim Mamin, Robert Hagg, Jonas Johansson, Ryan Lomberg
Injured:Markus Nutivaara (undisclosed)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Anthony Mantha
Connor McMichael -- Lars Eller -- Conor Sheary
Johan Larsson -- Nic Dowd -- Garnet Hathaway
Martin Fehervary -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Trevor van Riemsdyk -- Justin Schultz
Ilya Samsonov
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched:Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Matt Irwin, Michal Kempny, Hunter Shepard
Injured: Carl Hagelin (left eye), Tom Wilson (lower body)

Status report

Wilson, a forward, will miss his third straight game and remains day to day.