3 Keys: Lightning at Panthers, Game 5 of first round

No. 3 Lightning at No. 2 Panthers
8 p.m. ET; CNBC, FX-CA, TVAS.ca, BSFL, BSSUN
Tampa Bay leads best-of-7 series, 3-1

The Tampa Bay Lightning will try to become the first team in the Discover Central Division to advance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when they play the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup First Round at BB&T Center on Monday.
The Lightning are 2-0 on the road and won 6-2 in Game 4 at home Saturday.
Forward Nikita Kucherov and defenseman Mikhail Sergachev will play for the Lightning after they left Game 4 in the third period with undisclosed injuries.
Tampa Bay was 4-2 in potential elimination games last season, when it won the Stanley Cup. It advanced in five games in each of the first two rounds.
"You can't think that far ahead," Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "There's a lot of hockey left to be played here and a job that's not finished yet. You can use that as a little motivation in the back of your head, but at the end of the day you've got to come ready to really battle even harder than other games in this series."
Rookie goalie Spencer Knight could start for the Panthers in what would be his professional postseason debut. He was a healthy scratch for the first four games but had his own net for practice Sunday and the morning skate Monday.
Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said the starting goalie wouldn't be announced until before the game. Sergei Bobrovsky and Chris Driedger have split the starts. They were pulled from Game 4 and Game 3, respectively.
"The scores, pulling goalies, the way it's been, that's on us as well and we've just got to back those guys up no matter if it's the young guy in net, 'Knighter,' or whoever," Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour said.
Teams that hold a 3-1 lead are 292-29 (.910) winning a best-of-7 NHL playoff series, including 1-0 this season. The Lightning are 10-0 winning a series they lead 3-1.
Here are 3 keys to Game 5.

1. Is it Knight time for the Panthers?

It wouldn't be surprising to see Florida turn to Knight considering Bobrovsky and Driedger haven't stood out.
Knight delivered in four regular-season games (three starts), going 4-0-0 with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. He showcased himself in a big-game setting for the United States at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, making 34 saves in a 2-0 win against Canada in the championship game.
"Everything is already so elite and so high level that when he gets in the net you trust him already," Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said. "If he does get a chance to play, I can't wait to play in front of him. I think he's a great goalie. "

2. Solving Tampa Bay's power play

The Lightning are 7-for-15 in the series, including 4-for-8 the past two games. They were 3-for-4 in Game 1, a 5-4 win.
Kucherov (three goals, three assists) and defenseman Victor Hedman (six assists) each has scored six power-play points. Forwards Steven Stamkos (three assists), Brayden Point (two goals, one assist) and Alex Killorn (two goals, one assist) each has scored three.
"We've got to be better," Weegar said. "The PK is going to be desperation, a lot of passion, a lot of pride. We're going to take it personally. It's a privilege to be out there for those minutes. We're going to give it our all and play better."

3. Vasilevskiy's finishing ability

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is good to go despite not participating in the morning skate Monday.
The Panthers appeared to have Vasilevskiy's number before he made 39 saves in Game 4. He allowed six goals on 47 shots in Game 3, the second time in the series and sixth time this season that Florida scored at least four goals against him.
Vasilevskiy was 4-2 with a .938 save percentage in potential elimination games last season.

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Steven Stamkos
Blake Coleman -- Yanni Gourde -- Ross Colton
Pat Maroon -- Tyler Johnson -- Mathieu Joseph
Victor Hedman -- Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev -- David Savard
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched:Christopher Gibson, Spencer Martin, Fredrik Claesson, Luke Schenn, Ben Thomas, Alex Barré-Boulet, Gemel Smith, Daniel Walcott, Mitchell Stephens, Andreas Borgman, Taylor Raddysh, Boris Katchouk, Cal Foote
Injured:Barclay Goodrow (upper body)

Panthers projected lineup

Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Mason Marchment
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Sam Bennett -- Owen Tippett
Frank Vatrano -- Alex Wennberg -- Patric Hornqvist
Ryan Lomberg -- Noel Acciari -- Anthony Duclair
Gustav Forsling -- MacKenzie Weegar
Markus Nutivaara -- Brandon Montour
Keith Yandle -- Radko Gudas
Spencer Knight
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched:Kevin Connauton, Chris Driedger, Noah Juulsen, Nikita Gusev, Matt Kiersted, Eetu Luostarinen, Lucas Wallmark, Aleksi Heponiemi, Grigori Denisenko, Sam Montembeault, Philippe Desrosiers, Anton Stralman, Brady Keeper, Scott Wilson, Cole Schwindt
Injured:Aaron Ekblad (leg)

Status report

Goodrow took part in the morning skate, but Lightning coach Jon Cooper said the forward wouldn't play Game 5. ... Quenneville said there could be one lineup change. ... Yandle played the first two games before being scratched in Game 3 and Game 4. Stralman, a defenseman, played the past two.