The Boston Bruins have their backs against the wall heading into Game 3 of their first-round series versus the Metropolitan Division's top seed, the Carolina Hurricanes. 

The Bruins are down 2-0 to the Hurricanes in the best-of-seven series with Game 3 taking place at TD Garden in Boston Friday night. 

Carolina outscored Boston 10-3 in the first two games in Raleigh, but Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy believes the scoreboard is not totally indicative of what's happening on the ice. 

"I don't think the scores reflect how close the games were," Cassidy told TSN 1200 Ottawa Friday morning. "So, that's a positive for our group. It's not like we've been dominated in every area. We've been dominated on the scoreboard certainly, so we got to fix our shooting percentages and get there's down. Other than that, our game is not bad to honest with you. We got to finish. Hopefully get a lead and put them on their heels a little bit." 

Linus Ullmark, who appeared in 41 regular season games for the Bruins in 2021-22, was between the pipes for both losses to start the series. Cassidy announced on Thursday that the team will turn to 23-year-old rookie Jeremy Swayman in Game 3. The fourth-round pick also appeared in 41 games this season, posting a 2.41 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage with three shutouts. 

Cassidy: We're playing better than the scoreboard shows

Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy on the team playing better than what the scoreboard shows, trust in his leadership group, going to Swayman in net and need more disciplined play.

"You almost need your goalies to be close to perfect the way Carolina's goaltending is going against us," said Cassidy. "The numbers are just unbelievably slated that their save percentage is through the roof and our shooting percentage is so low that our goaltenders almost have to be perfect." 

Cassidy says a key for the Bruins to get back into this series is for some of their younger guys to step up and take a leadership role in place of some of the veterans who have left the organization over recent years. 

"We've gone through some changes as you guys know with our leadership. It's still Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, but some of the guys that were here before, Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug, and now this year with Tuukka Rask and Kevan Miller and David Krejci are gone, so some others have to step up in that role, some of our younger guys," said Cassidy. "We're seeing it with Charlie McAvoy. He's been a real leader on the ice."

The Bruins made a splash ahead of this year's trade deadline, acquiring veteran defenceman Hampus Lindholm from the Anaheim Ducks. However, the 28-year-old native of Sweden will miss Game 3 after taking a hard hit from Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov in Game 2. 

Cassidy is hopeful Lindholm will be ready for Game 4, but for now Mike Reilly will enter into the lineup. The 28-year-old appeared in 11 playoff games for the Bruins last spring and recorded 17 points over 70 games this season. 

"It's a tough spot to get thrown into in a middle of a playoff series, very intense, but Mike is a professional. He should be ready to go," explained Cassidy. 

Friday's game could prove crucial for Boston as only four teams in NHL history have battled back to win a series after being down 3-0.