Game 3 in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs doesn’t necessarily hinge on whether David Pastrnak can play. It would certainly help the Bruins if he returns from whatever kept him out of Game 2 on Thursday night, but then again, they could just as easily have won without their leading scorer.

Game 3 is as much about whether the Bruins can deflate the Hurricanes, who don’t just have momentum after tying this best-of-7 series, 1-1, with their 3-2 victory at [...]

Game 3 in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs doesn’t necessarily hinge on whether David Pastrnak can play. It would certainly help the Bruins if he returns from whatever kept him out of Game 2 on Thursday night, but then again, they could just as easily have won without their leading scorer.

Game 3 is as much about whether the Bruins can deflate the Hurricanes, who don’t just have momentum after tying this best-of-7 series, 1-1, with their 3-2 victory at Scotiabank Arena. They’re a team with a cause, which they used to overcome a major hurdle on Thursday night. The Bruins had beaten them in five straight playoff games, from last year’s sweep in the Eastern Conference final through Wednesday afternoon’s 4-3, double-overtime victory — capped, coincidentally, by Patrice Bergeron’s goal off a beautiful pass from Pastrnak, who had scored a goal earlier in Game 1. (Pastrnak, seen wincing as he coasted across the ice to join his celebrating teammates, may have hurt himself at some point during the scoring play.)

Coming off a winless, three-game round-robin tournament, a sense of normalcy — and positivity — suddenly enveloped the B’s. Their top line of Pastrnak (48 goals, 95 points), Bergeron and Brad Marchand was finally humming, other lines were falling into place, and they weren’t letting the Hurricanes create scoring opportunities in their preferred manner.

By Thursday night, however, the Hurricanes were rallying around coach Rod Brind’Amour, who had been fined $25,000 by the NHL for criticizing the officiating in Game 1. And Brind’Amour, who was able to add three-time Stanley Cup champion Justin Williams to his Game 2 lineup, made a few shrewd coaching decisions. He used James Reimer in goal over Game 1 starter Petr Mrazek, put defenseman Sami Vatanen back in the rotation, and even tinkered with his top line of Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov.

With or without Pastrnak, who cheered on his teammates from the Scotiabank Arena stands (masked, of course) on Thursday, the Bruins must come up with some answers in Game 3, which begins at noon on Saturday.

"It’s our turn to push back, right?" said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, who described Pastrnak’s injury as something the Bruins "don’t believe will be long term … a day-to-day thing, we hope."

"We feel we’re a good team at correcting things, as we go along, that we feel hurt us in the game before."

There’s no correction for Pastrnak’s absence, though — at least, not at even strength. The Bruins went 2-for-3 without him on the power play, where fill-in David Krejci scored a goal and added an assist, but Anders Bjork wasn’t a viable replacement at 5-on-5: He had only one shot, on his first shift of the night. Bergeron and Marchand combined for seven shots, plus another eight that didn’t reach Reimer, but the majority came during manpower advantages.

Somewhat atypically for a team populated by four Stanley Cup champions (Bergeron, Marchand, Krejci and captain Zdeno Chara in 2011) and others who reached the final last year and in 2013, the Bruins didn’t seize potential game-changing moments on Thursday. Neither Marchand’s game-tying power-play goal with 4.4 seconds left in the second period, nor a favorable result when Brind’Amour’s coach’s challenge at 3:26 of the third kept the Hurricanes from taking a 3-2 lead, sparked the B’s to victory. Instead, ex-Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton, in just his second game since fracturing his tibia in mid-January, scored the winner at 8:30.

Brind’Amour, unhappy with the interference call against Teravainen that led to Marchand’s power-play goal, then fell to 0-for-2 on coach’s challenges in the series, saw his team’s win as vindication.

"I thought at every turn, everything that kind of seemed to go against us, the guys were like ‘Next shift. Bounce back,’ " said the coach. "I just felt they weren’t going to be denied."

The focus now shifts to how much Cassidy has up his sleeve. Pastrnak’s availability is a huge factor, and he may also need to weigh a goaltending decision.Tuukka Rask, adequate (2.15 goals-against average, but only a .889 saves percentage) over rare appearances on consecutive days, faces a quick turnaround before noon on Saturday — or perhaps a game off in favor of Jaroslav Halak. On Friday, Cassidy said he expects Rask will start even though it will be his third start in four days.

"He didn’t skate (Friday), but a lot of guys didn’t. It’s a quick turnaround, three games in (four) days, (but) we anticipate he’ll start," Cassidy said.

Whatever moves Cassidy makes, he wants his team to respond to Game 2 as the Hurricanes did to Game 1.

"Most teams that don’t feel they gave their best in a game in the playoffs usually bounce back the next night," Cassidy said. "That’s why they’re good teams; that’s why they’re in the playoffs.

"We weren’t as good as we were (in Game 1). Give them credit, and obviously, (there’s) some things we need to do better as well."