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WASHINGTON (AP) Throughout their first three playoff series Authentic Pekka Rinne Jersey Kids , 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, 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 Roman Josi Jersey , 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, 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 http://www.officialpredators.com/authentic-adidas-ryan-hartman-jersey ,” coach Gerard Gallant said. ”It was 2-1 late in the (third) period, 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 ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) The Edmonton Oilers have been reduced to playing spoiler in the playoff race. It’s a role they seem to be relishing, creating plenty of drama along the way.Ryan Strome scored twice and the Oilers recovered to beat the Anaheim Ducks 6-5 in a shootout Sunday after giving up two goals in the final 21 seconds of regulation.After nearly allowing Los Angeles to overcome a two-goal deficit in the final 18 seconds of a 4-3 win Saturday, the Oilers found themselves playing extra hockey Sunday when Rickard Rakell scored with 20.9 seconds remaining in the third period to make it 5-4 and then tied it with 6.3 seconds to play. He beat Al Montoya with a wrist shot from the slot after Derek Grant won the faceoff against Leon Draisaitl.Following a wide-open overtime in which both teams had plenty of chances to win, Draisaitl and Connor McDavid scored in the shootout for Edmonton and Montoya stopped shots by Ryan Getzlaf and Ondrej Kase after Rakell made his.”When you’re not really in the hunt anymore you’ve got to find ways to keep yourself motivated and we’ve definitely been able to do that,” said McDavid, who had three assists. ”I think our last two games have been two of the best that we’ve played in a long time and it’s good to see.”Draisaitl scored in his third straight game for the Oilers Ryan Johansen Jersey , who have won three in a row and four of five. Montoya made 41 saves, and Anton Slepyshev and Iiro Pakarinen also scored. Michael Cammalleri had two assists, giving him 12 in his last 12 games.Rakell had his first career hat trick and Getzlaf added a goal and two assists for the Ducks, who have earned at least one point in six consecutive home games. Adam Henrique scored a power-play goal, and Ryan Miller stopped 37 shots.The Oilers haven’t had much go right this season. They made two trades over the weekend and appear poised to move Patrick Maroon before Monday’s deadline after the forward was held out for the third straight game. Despite the turmoil, they are also delivering some of their best performances right now.”It shows character in the room,” Montoya said. ”The core is committed to this team and they help and lead the way.”Strome, who had his fifth career multi-goal game, put the Oilers ahead 3-2 at 7:02 of the second period. Hampus Lindholm nearly broke up Draisaitl’s centering pass during a 3-on-2 rush, but Strome was still able to reach back and score. He added his fifth goal in five games by scoring 2:31 into the third for a 4-2 lead.Getzlaf’s long shot redirected off the back of Yohann Auvitu to cut the lead to 4-3 with six minutes to play, but Pakarinen scored 1:40 later to restore a two-goal margin.While the Oilers were surging this weekend, the Ducks went on a downward trend. They took only one of a possible four points against Edmonton and Arizona, the bottom two teams in the Pacific Division Viktor Arvidsson Jersey , and were sluggish from the start Sunday. Getzlaf made a poor pass at the blue line right to Cammalleri in the neutral zone, and he fed Draisaitl for a shot between Miller’s legs to put the Oilers up 1-0 after 13 seconds.”We played good for four or five games in a row and then this weekend we just kind of were a little bit flat. It’s hard to explain, but it’s just the reality of it. So, proud of the way we came back, got a point, and we’ve got to build off that and get ready for the push here,” said Getzlaf, who made amends by helping set up Rakell’s goal at 1:46 to tie it at 1.By rallying for one point, Anaheim moved into third place in the Pacific Division with 74 points. The Ducks are one point ahead of Calgary, which dropped to the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.”We pulled our goaltender and scored two goals,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. ”You don’t know what that point is going to mean at the end of the year.”NOTES: Oilers forward Zack Kassian did not return after being clipped by Kase midway through the first period. … Slepyshev scored for the second straight game. … The Oilers acquired forward Pontus Aberg from Nashville in a three-team trade. They sent C Mark Letestu to Columbus as part of the deal.UP NEXTOilers: Visit the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.Ducks: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.—