SENATORS at BRUINS
3 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, TVA Sports
Ottawa leads best-of-7 series 3-2
The Boston Bruins will try to even the Eastern Conference First Round series against the Ottawa Senators in Game 6 at TD Garden on Sunday.
The Bruins avoided elimination when they rallied for a 3-2 double-overtime win in Game 5 on Friday after falling behind 2-0.
Every game has been decided by one goal, including three in overtime. Ottawa had won three straight before Boston's dramatic Game 5 victory.
Here are 5 keys for Game 6:
1. David Krejci's status
Krejci's availability remains unknown after he sustained a lower-body injury in the first period of Game 5 on a low hit from Senators defenseman Chris Wideman. Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said he wouldn't know Krejci's status until Sunday.
The Boston forward has no points in three games in the series after he had 54 points (23 goals, 31 assists) in 82 games in the regular season. If Krejci can't play, he'll be replaced in the lineup by Ryan Spooner, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson or Matt Beleskey.
"We've put a lot of thought into it," Cassidy said. "But we're not 100 percent sure yet who that player will be. We have our choices, and you know who they are."
2. Battle fatigue
It took 4 hours, 6 minutes for the Bruins and Senators to settle Game 5, and now they'll face off less than 48 hours after the start time Friday.
"I think most of the guys probably had a pretty good sleep [Friday] night," Senators forward Mike Hoffman said. "Guys that needed treatment will get it today, and tonight once we get into Boston, we'll gear ourselves up for [Sunday]. But it definitely will be a mental test for [Sunday's] game."
Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller was one of nine players to exceed 30 minutes of ice time in Game 5.
"Everybody's kind of feeling the minutes, whatever it may be," Miller said. "It's that time of year, and they're not easy minutes. But that's why we have days off in between, to rest and make sure everybody's rested and ready to go."
3. Defend home ice
The Bruins have lost the first two games at TD Garden in the series and their past five at home against the Senators since their last win Dec. 29, 2015.
"You know, I think we played pretty well both times at home," Miller said. "The margin of error is so small, they got an OT win and then 1-0. I thought it could've gone our way multiple times. I think we have to have the same approach we did on the road. We want to come out and have a strong first period and make sure we're making the right plays."
4. Hold a lead
Each team has blown at least one multigoal lead in the series (Boston in Game 2; Ottawa in Games 3 and 5). The Senators can't let Game 5 linger.
"They had a 3-1 lead (in Game 2), and we came back, so they're thinking the same thing," Ottawa coach Guy Boucher said. "Every series is the same; it's desperation until the very end. And so whether you score the first goals or they score, it always turns out that at the end, it's going to be a very equal game."
5. Power up
The Bruins were 0-for-3 on the power play in Game 5 and are 2-for-14 in the series (14.3 percent); the Senators are 3-for-18 (16.7 percent) after going 0-for-5 on Friday.
"It's kind of been up and down throughout this series, power plays both ways," Hoffman said. "They've had some good ones, had some bad ones. And the same for us. I think every game moving forward teams adapt and see exactly what you're doing and they know how to defend it. We're going to have to keep it simple like we have to 5-on-5."
Senators projected lineup
Ryan Dzingel -- Kyle Turris -- Alexandre Burrows
Viktor Stalberg -- Derick Brassard -- Bobby Ryan
Mike Hoffman -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Mark Stone
Clarke MacArthur -- Chris Kelly -- Zack Smith
Ben Harpur -- Chris Wideman
Scratched: Fredrik Claesson, Tommy Wingels, Chris Neil, Colin White, Jyrki Jokipakka, Chris DiDomenico
Injured: Mark Borowiecki (lower body), Tom Pyatt (upper body)
Bruins projected lineup
Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Backes
Drew Stafford -- David Krejci -- David Pastrnak
Dominic Moore -- Riley Nash -- Noel Acciari
Tim Schaller -- Sean Kuraly -- Frank Vatrano
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Joe Morrow -- Kevan Miller
John-Michael Liles -- Colin Miller
Scratched: Matt Beleskey, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Ryan Spooner, Tommy Cross, Malcolm Subban, Jimmy Hayes
Injured: Adam McQuaid (upper body), Brandon Carlo (upper body), Torey Krug (lower body)
Status report
Krug started skating this week but remains far off from making his 2017 Stanley Cup Playoff debut. He was injured in Boston's second-to-last game of the regular season. ... Stalberg (undisclosed), Borowiecki and Pyatt each is day to day, and Boucher said he won't know if any of them will be available until Sunday afternoon.
Who's hot
Brassard has six points (two goals, four assists) in the series. ... Karlsson has five assists in the series. ... Hoffman has two goals in the past three games. ... Kuraly scored his first two goals of the series in Game 5. ... Backes had two assists in Game 5 and has four points (one goal, three assists) in the series. ... Pastrnak has four points (two goals, two assists) in the series.
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