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WASHINGTON (AP) Throughout their first three playoff series Youth Dustin Byfuglien Jersey , the Vegas Golden Knights were defined by smart decisions and dazzling plays.In the Stanley Cup Final, their mistakes have drawn most of the attention.Vegas made too many errors in its own end of the ice and scored just one gift-wrapped goal Saturday night in a 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals, who never trailed in taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.There were missed assignments, botched passes and only 22 shots on goal. The Golden Knights hardly looked like the team that steamrolled its way to the Western Conference championship with a 12-3 record.After opening the Final with a 6-4 victory, Vegas lost Game 2 when Alex Tuch failed to convert a wonderful scoring chance in the waning minutes. There was more trouble coming as the series arrived in Washington.On Saturday night, after the Golden Knights closed to 2-1 early in the third period, the Capitals restored the two-goal cushion when Jay Beagle outworked Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore in the corner, gained possession of the puck and sent a centering pass that Devante Smith-Pelly slammed into the net at 13:53.”It didn’t go his way tonight,” left wing David Perron said of Theodore. ”You just have to move forward and turn the page.”Ditto for the rest of the Golden Knights http://www.officialhockeyjetsshop.com/authentic-adidas-jacob-trouba-jersey , who now trail in a playoff series after three games for the first time.”It’s all on us right now,” Deryk Engelland said. ”We’ve just got to tighten it up and get going on the ice.”After becoming only the third NHL team to win multiple playoff series in its inaugural season, Vegas charged into the Final looking to extend its unprecedented run of success.It started well in Game 1, and there seemed no reason to panic after the subsequent 3-2 defeat. But the Golden Knights’ downturn continued Saturday night, when they too often let goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury contend for himself and failed to mount much of a threat against Braden Holtby on the other end.In one telling sequence, Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring early in the second period as he was falling over Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb. It happened only after Fleury slid from side to side, frantically making three saves in the sequence before Ovechkin connected.”It’s a team game,” said Fleury, who had 23 saves. ”I just try to do my job the best I can.”Vegas has lost two straight for the first time since early April Austin Czarnik Jersey Womens , when it dropped the final two meaningless games of the regular season. The Golden Knights are struggling on both ends of the ice, and at this point they can’t explain why.”We didn’t play good in the neutral zone, turned a lot of pucks over and fed their offense,” said Tomas Nosek, who scored Vegas’ only goal. ”Also, the back-check was not good enough.”Vegas still has a chance to become the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup. But when the Final is tied at one game apiece, the winner of Game 3 ultimately has gone on to capture the Cup 78 percent of the time (21 of 27) since the series went to the best-of-seven format in 1939.The only deficit the Golden Knights faced before this was in the Western Conference finals, when they lost the opener to Winnipeg before rattling off four straight wins.”Tonight it was a close hockey game,” coach Gerard Gallant said. ”It was 2-1 late in the (third) period Josh Morrissey Jersey , and then that unfortunate turnover goal.”To be fair, the Golden Knights’ goal came in similar fashion. After Holtby did a poor job of clearing the puck from behind the Capitals net, Nosek easily scored to slice Washington’s lead to 2-1 at 3:29 of the third period.But Vegas had already dug a hole that was too deep.”They came out in the first period and set the tone,” Gallant said. ”We were chasing them from behind again tonight.”That is the predicament Vegas now faces in the series, with Game 4 on Monday night.”We’ve got to find a way to bounce back and put this behind us,” Perron said.—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals PITTSBURGH (AP) Sidney Crosby let one chance to bury the New York Islanders slip away. The Pittsburgh Penguins star wasn’t about to let it happen twice.Crosby finished off a 2-on-1 by sneaking a wrist shot past Chris Gibson 3:48 into overtime to give the Penguins a 3-2 win Saturday. Pittsburgh’s captain failed to convert on a rush moments earlier, but an outlet pass by Justin Schultz freed up Crosby once again.This time he faked a pass to Conor Sheary and instead beat Gibson between the legs as the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions snapped a three-game losing streak.”Thought I had a good opportunity to shoot and missed one right before that so glad to see it go in,” Crosby said after picking up his 22nd goal of the season.Derick Brassard’s first goal with Pittsburgh tied it with less than nine minutes to go in regulation. Patric Hornqvist added his 18th goal of the season for the Penguins. Phil Kessel picked up two assists to become the sixth American-born player to reach 400 career assists. Tristan Jarry overcame a comically ugly start to finish with 25 saves.Jarry’s night began by giving up a goal to New York’s Brandon Davidson just 1:11 into the game. Davidson flipped a slow backhand from outside the right circle only to see it go into the net when Jarry tripped and fell backward to the ice .”It was a little easier when I came back to the bench and seen 90 percent of the guys laughing at me,” Jarry said. ”It’s a tough thing to swallow but I’m glad we won.”Anders Lee put New York up 4:59 into the third period when his shot caromed off Pittsburgh defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and over the goal line for his team-leading 31st. Gibson http://www.officialhockeyjetsshop.com/authentic-adidas-kyle-connor-jersey , making his first start in nearly two years, almost made it stand up. He finished with 47 saves in all but let Brassard jam one by him with 8:31 left in regulation to tie it and he was no match for Crosby late. The Islanders have dropped six straight.Making just his fifth NHL start and first since April 10, 2016, Gibson spent most of the night trying to make up for lost time. The Penguins peppered the New York net for long stretches, often looking like they were on the power play despite being at even strength. Asked if he could remember the last time he faced 50 shots at any level, Gibson just shook his head.”To be honest, I can’t but it was great,” Gibson said. ”I loved every single second of it. I’m really happy with my game except that last goal and the loss there.”The Penguins were coming off an ugly 8-4 setback in Boston on Thursday night, one that extended their losing streak to three and blunted their recent surge toward the top of the Metropolitan Division. Coach Mike Sullivan Mark Scheifele Jersey , rarely hesitant to shake things up during even the slightest of downturns, opted for minor tweaks instead of major ones.Pittsburgh called up forward Dominik Simon and put him on the third line and Sullivan mixed up the bottom two defensive pairings, including giving Chad Ruhwedel his first start since Dec. 27. The result was better play in front of Jarry. After giving up 17 goals during the losing streak, Pittsburgh surrendered just the two flukish goals and Jarry collected himself after the bumpy start.The penalty kill was sharp at the beginning of overtime, giving Crosby a chance to win it.”The last two games I struggled a little bit and I didn’t think my game was where I wanted it to be at,” Jarry said. ”I thought tonight was a good bounce back performance for me and I think it’s something I can grow on.”NOTES: Pittsburgh G Matt Murray missed his third straight game since getting a concussion in practice Wednesday. … Pittsburgh scratched D Matt Hunwick, F Carter Rowney and C Zach Aston-Reese. … New York scratched Ds Dennis Seidenberg and Sebastian Aho and F Ross Johnston. … The Islanders went 0 for 2 on the power play. The Penguins were 1 for 2. … Pittsburgh is 7-1-1 in its last nine games against New York.UP NEXTIslanders: Begin swing through Western Canada on Monday in Vancouver.Penguins: Host Calgary on Monday.—