Need to Know: Bruins vs. Hurricanes | Game 3

BOSTON – The Bruins will be back on home ice on Friday night for Game 3 against the Carolina Hurricanes in search of their first win of their opening-round matchup. Facing a 2-0 hole, the Black & Gold will, no doubt, get a boost from the TD Garden faithful as they aim to climb their way back into this series against the ‘Canes.

“To come back home…I got a taste of it last year and you can just tell how much the guys feed off the crowd,” said Mike Reilly, who will re-enter the lineup in place of the injured Hampus Lindholm. “And once you get in those first couple games here and realize how special it is…definitely excited. We know we’re gonna have the crowd behind us. You can tell the guys came to the rink today ready to go.”

Here’s everything else you need to know ahead of the 7 p.m. puck drop on NESN, TNT, and 98.5 The Sports Hub:

Subbing Back In

With Lindholm sidelined by an upper-body injury suffered on a heavy hit from Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov in Game 2, Reilly will reunite alongside Charlie McAvoy on Boston’s top pair. The duo played a significant amount together down the stretch when Lindholm was out with a lower-body injury and seemed to gel rather quickly.

“Definitely comfortable for sure,” Reilly said of skating with McAvoy. “I don’t know how many games we got together but I think it was something that was clicking pretty well, just feeding off each other. Definitely try to jump at the opportunity to be able to play with him and stick with him a little bit. Definitely excited to go back with him.”

Given Carolina’s forechecking prowess, Reilly said it will be critical for him and the rest of the B’s blue liners to quickly get the puck moving out of Boston’s end.

“I think they’re one of the best teams at getting in on the forecheck and getting on top of guys,” said Reilly. “As soon as that puck moves over from one guy to the next guy, it seems like that guy is right on top of the other guy. That’s something they pride themselves in. When you’re going back to pucks, keep the chains moving a little bit and create foot races.

“Hopefully that can develop into some odd-man rushes and get playing north and get playing fast. That’s an emphasis for sure going into tonight when a team wants to stay on top of you.”

Video: Reilly talks with the media before Game 3 vs. CAR

Back on Top

With the Bruins searching for a boost in offensive production, Cassidy opted to keep the top-line reunion going. Boston’s bench boss moved David Pastrnak back with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron during Game 2 and will stick with that trio on Friday night as Jake DeBrusk will bump down to skate with Taylor Hall and Erik Haula.

“We need to be a little better, so I think it’s the perfect time…we’ve been together for a while, we know what to expect from each other. I’m excited. It’s been a while so it’s gonna be fun tonight,” said Pastrnak. “It’s kind of set for us. We’ve played together for a while so it’s absolutely nothing to get used to.”

Video: Pastrnak shares his thoughts before Game 3 vs. CAR

Switching It Up 

In addition to flipping Pastrnak and DeBrusk, the Bruins will also make some other changes up front with Trent Frederic sitting as a healthy scratch. As such, Tomas Nosek will slide up to the third-line left wing spot alongside Charlie Coyle and Craig Smith, while Curtis Lazar will shift over to center the fourth line. Chris Wagner, meanwhile, will enter the lineup as the fourth-line right wing.

“We moved some pieces around,” said Cassidy. “Fred got himself in a bit of penalty trouble [in Game 2]. I’m not sure it’s all warranted, but at the end of the day, that’s where he’s at right now. We’ve talked about how he can impact the game. We’ve got to get that message across.

“But it’s less about Freddy and it’s more about the two guys who’ve been in the league, which are his center and right winger. They’ve been around, so they need to drive the line no matter who’s on their left side. We need a little more from them, and hopefully tonight we get it.”

Wagner made his season debut with Boston a week ago tonight in Toronto after spending the season in Providence and registered 11 hits in 15:57 of ice time. Now, with the Bruins in need of a spark, the winger from Walpole will get his chance to make a similar impact at the bottom of the lineup.

“I liked Wags’ game up in Toronto,” said Cassidy. “We’ve seen him in the playoffs, sort of the grit he can bring in and being first on the forecheck, his physicality. I think it’s really what has made a name for him in this league. So, if he can get there on time tonight on some of those, we could certainly use it.”

Wagner will be suiting up for his 35th career postseason game with the Bruins and his 56th overall.

“Definitely [going to be] emotional,” said Wagner. “I’m obviously very excited. I don’t know if I really expected this to happen a couple weeks ago but I’m happy to be here and help the team win…down 2-0, you need something to kind of change the series around, hopefully I can do something to do that.

“I feel like we’ve been in these spots before where we were down so just try to help the team win.”

Video: Russo sits down with Wagner to talk Game 3 vs. CAR

Wait, There’s More 

Video: Cassidy talks with media prior to Game 3 vs. CAR

Friday’s Projected Lineup 

FORWARDS

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak

Taylor Hall – Erik Haula – Jake DeBrusk

Tomas Nosek – Charlie Coyle – Craig Smith

Nick Foligno – Curtis Lazar – Chris Wagner

DEFENSEMEN

Mike Reilly – Charlie McAvoy

Matt Grzelcyk – Brandon Carlo

Derek Forbort – Connor Clifton

GOALIES

Jeremy Swayman

Linus Ullmark