Playoffs 2013Bruins hope to contain Phil Kessel in Game 3

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Three storylines for Game 3 of the Leafs-Bruins series on Monday night in Toronto (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 6:30 p.m. ET):

1. How will the younger Maple Leafs deal with the excitement of the first NHL playoff game in Toronto in nine years?

The Maple Leafs don't have to be reminded how long it's been since the last Stanley Cup playoff game was contested in Toronto -- nine years, two days to be exact.

But many of the Maple Leafs, including the 10 who were making their NHL playoff debuts, did not handle the opening-night jitters well in Boston last Wednesday. Once again, they will have a new experience to deal with on Monday.

Toronto veteran Joffrey Lupul said it's up to his teammates to channel the energy inside the building in a positive manner. He added that the return of the playoffs to the Air Canada Centre will only be special if they can win Game 3.

While in Boston, the Maple Leafs were shown a short video clip of the estimated 2,000 people who showed up at Maple Leaf Square to watch the series opener on the giant outdoor television on the west side of the ACC last Wednesday. They were quite impressed with the turnout and the atmosphere.

There have been 311 regular-season games at the ACC without a post-season matchup, and as a result the environment inside the building for most Maple Leafs games has been rather corporate. But that is expected to change on Monday evening.



2. How will the Maple Leafs follow up their dynamic effort from Game 2?

Toronto's impressive performance in their 4-2 victory on Saturday will be difficult for the Maple Leafs to top. Toronto head coach Randy Carlyle expects the battle-hardened Bruins to bounce back with a better effort.

"Our message is that we're going to have to be better than we were because we know the Bruins are going to be better," Carlyle said.

Boston had too many turnovers and breakdowns in Game 2. The Maple Leafs were culpable in those areas in the series opener.

3. Can the Maple Leafs' speedy forward Phil Kessel continue to be a factor?

Kessel finally broke through for his first even-strength goal in 24 games against his former team when he scored on a breakaway early in the third period on Saturday. It also was Kessel's first point versus Boston in five games this year.

Carlyle did his best to keep Kessel away from Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara on Saturday. Kessel split Boston blue-liners Johnny Boychuk and Dennis Seidenberg when he took a pass from linemate Nazem Kadri and beat goalie Tuukka Rask to make the score 3-1.

Bruins head coach Claude Julien called it "the parting of the red sea." Julien will feel better with the return of veteran defenceman Andrew Ference for Game 3. He sat out Game 2 due to a suspension for his hit to the head of Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski.

Ference's return will allow Julien to put Chara back with Seindenberg and Boychuk back with Ference.

Projected lines, defence pairings for Game 3

Maple Leafs

Joffrey Lupul -- Tyler Bozak -- Matt Frattin
James van Riemsdyk -- Mikhail Grabovski -- Phil Kessel
Ryan Hamilton -- Nazem Kadri -- Nikolai Kulemin
Leo Komarov -- Jay McClement -- Colton Orr

Carl Gunnarsson -- Dion Phaneuf
Jake Gardiner -- Ryan O'Byrne
Mark Fraser -- Cody Franson

Starting goalie: James Reimer

Bruins

Milan Lucic -- David Krejci -- Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- Tyler Seguin
Rich Peverley -- Chris Kelly -- Jaromir Jagr
Daniel Paille -- Gregory Campbell -- Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara -- Dennis Seidenberg
Andrew Ference -- Johnny Boychuk
Wade Redden -- Adam McQuaid

Starting goalie: Tuukka Rask

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