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The Vegas Golden Knights have long embraced their status as unheralded underdogs Paxton Lynch Jersey , from their very first game as an NHL expansion team in October through their stunning dismantling of Winnipeg in the Western Conference Final.

”We call ourselves the Golden Misfits for a reason,” winger Ryan Reaves said prior to the Stanley Cup Final series against Washington. ”We’ve proven everyone else wrong all season.”

Vegas entered the Final as favorites over the Capitals, who broke into the league in 1974 and are still in search of their first championship. The Golden Knights won the opener, but after dropping two in a row they find themselves playing a familiar role as they prepare for Game 4 on Monday night.

”We’re still underdogs,” left wing David Perron said. ”They’re a great team over there. Now the pressure is on them to keep going. We’re going to find a way to answer.”

The Capitals got caught up in a fast-paced, fire-at-will contest in Game 1, and Vegas rolled to a 6-4 victory. Washington made the adjustment in Game 2 and won 3-2, then gripped the defensive clamp even tighter Saturday night in a 3-1 win.

Now, mired in their initial losing streak of the playoffs and trailing 2-1 in games for the first time, the Golden Knights are desperate to become more effective pushing the puck toward the net.

”We get it out on our blue line and we try to make a cross-ice play and they’re picking it off,” Reaves said. ”Their transition game is good. We’re getting to their blue line and we’re trying get cute again instead of doing what works. With this team, that’s getting it in and then going to work.”

The Capitals know this, and they have taken great strides to shackle a team that averaged 3.31 goals per game during the regular season, tied for fourth in the NHL.

”Offensive teams have certain tendencies Carson Tinker Jersey , certain routes that they take through the neutral zone, plays they like to make,” Washington defenseman Matt Niskanen said. ”So if you can be on top of them and turn over some pucks, stifle them, make it hard for them to gain entry with possession, that frustrates skilled players.”

The Golden Knights mustered only 22 shots on goal in Game 3, with Tomas Nosek getting the lone score after Washington goaltender Braden Holtby did a miserable job of clearing the puck from behind his net.

”They defended well. We were getting clogged up a little bit,” Vegas winger James Neal said. ”They sit back. We’ve got to get pucks to the net. We didn’t have enough shots. We didn’t have enough bodies going to the net. They out-battled us. We’re going to look at that and fix it.”

That’s what Sunday’s skate was about. The Golden Knights understand the problem, and the task now is to correct the shortcoming.

”We’ve just got to get back to our game, getting pucks deep and getting in on the forecheck,” defenseman Derek Engelland said. ”It’s been our key all season long, the five-man forecheck and five-guy pressure all over the ice.”

Vegas doesn’t need a high-scoring, freestyle affair to win. The Golden Knights have a pair of 1-0 shutouts during the playoffs and have won twice when scoring only two goals.

The key is to cut down on the mistakes. Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped Alex Ovechkin at the end of a 2-on-1 rush early in the game, but the Capitals converted an odd-man blitz in the second period for a 2-0 lead.

”Working hard to get down low Boomer Esiason Jersey , we just couldn’t hold onto it or make a big play, and the Capitals are going the other way,” Vegas center Ryan Carpenter said.

It’s not by accident. Washington coach Barry Trotz changed things up after Game 1, and the results were profound.

”There are things that they do that have given us some difficulties, and we’ve adjusted,” Trotz said. ”They’ll do the same.”

The Capitals have fortified their defense, and Vegas now must find a way to penetrate the barrier. If it can do that, then Fleury will happily do his part in to help bring the series back to Las Vegas tied a two games apiece.

”I have faith in these guys that they can do well, they can do what they’ve done for the past three rounds and all season long,” the goaltender said.

What they’ve done, more often than not, is win when few thought they could.

”We’ve been in situations like this before: adversity, have our backs against the wall a bit,” defenseman Luca Sbisa said. ”The belief in our group is still here. Just got to stick together.”

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More Stanley Cup coverage:

Miguel Cabrera’s season is over. The Detroit Tigers will have to try to get through the next 94 games without their veteran slugger D.J. Reader Jersey , starting on Wednesday.

Cabrera suffered a ruptured left biceps tendon while taking a big swing in the third inning against Minnesota’s Jake Odorizzi on Tuesday. He’ll undergo season-ending surgery in the near future.

“He feels really bad. He feels like he’s letting people down. There’s a guy who’s a warrior,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Total respect for that man. He’s a (heck) of a baseball player. Hopefully, we can somehow get through this thing and get him back playing.”

Even before Tuesday’s devastating injury, Cabrera had trouble staying healthy this season. Cabrera missed three games in late April and early May with a biceps spasm. He returned for one game, then spent the rest of the month on the disabled list because of a hamstring strain.

“We’ve got to try to help him get through this thing,” Gardenhire said. “It’s a very sad day for our baseball team. He’s a special player, a special person to have around here. That’s a blow. I felt terrible when I saw him do that.”

Backup catcher John Hicks becomes the team’s starting first baseman in Cabrera’s absence. He’ll likely start there on Wednesday during the second game of the series.

Minnesota will send out their ace, Jose Berrios.

Following a stretch of four starts in late April and early May in which he gave up at least four earned runs, Berrios has overpowered the opposition. He’s won four of his last five starts while posting 44 strikeouts.

He went the distance on Thursday against the Chicago White Sox, holding them to two runs on six hits while striking out 10 without a walk.

“I felt healthy,” Berrios told mlb.com afterward. “I got quite of few pitches — fastball, curveball, changeup — working. That’s what I used the whole game.”

Berrios (7-5, 3.66 ERA) collected a victory at home over the Tigers during that stretch Jerrell Freeman Jersey , limiting them to two runs on three hits in eight innings May 21. He’s 3-1 in six career outings against Detroit despite an 8.49 ERA. Tigers catcher James McCann has been a tough out for Berrios, hitting two home runs with seven RBIs in 11 career at-bats.

Left-hander Matthew Boyd, arguably the Tigers’ most consistent starter this season, will oppose Berrios. Boyd (4-4, 3.20) has notched two wins and a no-decision in his last three starts.

He survived Boston’s potent lineup in his last outing on Thursday despite some control issues. He limited the Red Sox to two runs on four hits in 6 1/3 innings but also issued four walks and threw three wild pitches.

“As the game went on, he got more comfortable,” Hicks said to the Detroit News afterward. “The mound in the bullpen is flat and the mound in the game is steep. It’s kind of an adjustment once you get out there. But once he settled in, he had all his pitches we could to go to in any count.”

Boyd has pitched against the Twins more than any other team. In 12 career starts, Boyd is 5-3 with a 4.01 ERA.

Twins leadoff man Brian Dozier has been a thorn in Boyd’s side, batting .406 with three doubles and three homers in 32 career at-bats.

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