TORONTO -- Toronto defenceman T. Colorado Avalanche Shirts .J. Brennan thinks the Marlies are their own worst enemies. A neutral zone turnover by Marlies captain Trevor Smith led to the game-winning goal at 11:14 of the third period as Toronto fell 3-2 to the Texas Stars in Game 3 of their American Hockey Leagues Western Conference final. "I think were kind of shooting ourselves in the foot with turnovers," said Brennan. "Its a game of mistakes especially in the conference finals. Little things separate a team in a one goal game, couple mistakes we made and they capitalized." The goal came just 59 seconds after Brennan had picked up his second of the night to tie the game 2-2. Kevin Henderson and Patrik Nemeth had the other Stars goals while Cristopher Nilstorp made 20 saves. The win was the Stars second in three nights and gives the Dallas Stars affiliate a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference final. Drew MacIntyre stopped 27 shots in the loss. The Marlies won their first eight games to open the playoffs. "The challenge for us is the neutral zone, we cannot turn over pucks in the neutral zone, thats where we have to be smart," said Marlies coach Steve Spott. "We have to be a team that gets pucks in deep and then hunts people down and gets it back. We simply havent done that well enough in this series." A newly formed fourth line of Kenny Ryan between Tyler Biggs and Brad Ross factored in on the games opening goal from Brennan at 9:16 of the first period. Biggs was in the Marlies lineup for the first time since Game 2 of the first round (April 26) replacing Jerred Smithson. Andrew MacWilliam (upper body) made his series debut replacing Dylan Yeo on the blue-line. Wednesday was MacWilliams first game since a collision with Chicago Wolves forward Adam Cracknell in Game 3 of the second round. "I thought that line was good, I thought of all the lines, that line gave us what I was hoping to get, which was a level of physicality," Spott said of his fourth line. "They played with some urgency and some grit so I liked that line." Brennan nearly had his second of the game, and period, on a Marlies power play late in the opening frame as he wired a Spencer Abbott feed from the top of the face-off circle, but Nilstorp was there to make the save. Nemeth tied it 1-1 at 3:16 of the second period beating a screened MacIntyre five hole for his first of the playoffs. Henderson, who played for Spott with the Ontario Hockey Leagues Kitchener Rangers, gave Texas its first lead of the game at 6:59 of the third tipping home the rebound off Brett Ritchies shot for his first playoff goal. "Theyre a veteran hockey club and theyre good," said Spott. "When you look at their 12 forwards, theyre playing with a level of desperation that our 12 forwards havent found yet. Weve got a couple guys that are playing at the level that we expected." Notes: Maple Leafs great Johnny Bower dropped the puck in a ceremonial faceoff. Game 4 of the series goes Thursday with Game 5 at Ricoh Coliseum Saturday afternoon. Fake Avalanche Jerseys .C. - Canadian ice dancing, it seems, is in good hands. Colorado Avalanche Pro Shop . The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. He will look to end Vettels run of six straight race wins on Sunday. Webber, who is fifth in the championship, earned his second pole from the past three races and 13th of his career. https://www.cheapavalanche.com/ . Kuznetsov, who was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has been playing for his hometown team Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL.PHILADELPHIA -- Claude Giroux has put an early-season slump well behind him. At this rate, the Flyers captain is set to be remembered more for a fantastic finish. Giroux and Jakub Voracek each had two goals, and Michael Raffl and Steve Downie also scored to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 6-4 win over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night. Andrew MacDonald had an assist in his first game since he was acquired from the New York Islanders. The Flyers won for the seventh time in eight games and are second in the Metropolitan Division, far removed from the team that started a franchise-worst 1-7. Giroux didnt score a goal in his first 15 games, but now has 23 in 63 games this season. Giroux and Voracek are hot at the right time. "Theyre the leaders of this team," goalie Steve Mason said. "When they are going, everybody follows." The Flyers chased Washington goalie Braden Holtby after taking a 4-0 lead early in the second period. Holtby was replaced by Philipp Grubauer for the rest of the game -- and could face some competition the rest of the season. The Capitals acquired Jaroslav Halak from Buffalo for backup goalie Michal Neuvirth and defenceman Rostislav Klesla at the NHL trade deadline earlier in the day. Alex Ovechkin, Joel Ward and Troy Brouwer nearly rallied the Capitals with three straight goals in the third. Brooks Laich also scored. "Its not how were supposed to start the game," Ovechkin said. "We just have to play better right away." Giroux continued to put a slow start far behind him as he leads the Flyers resurgence. His goals in each of the first two periods gave him nine in the last 11 games. Perhaps fueled by his Olympic snub, he has nine assists over that span, and has again positioned the Flyers as a tough post-season out. Both teams turned back the clock with a line brawl in the first period that saw Washingtons John Erskine and Philadelphias Vincent Lecavalier get tossed. Philadelphias Luke Schenn drilled Ryan Stoa into the boards, then was confronted by Tom Wilson. Wilson, who earned a 10-minute misconduct, fought Schenn while the rest of the lines went at it near the corner boards. Philadelphias Wayne Simmonds tried to pull off EErskine, allowing Lecavalier to get in a free shot. Colorado Avalanche Gear. The crowd went wild and helmets littered the ice during the brawl that finally ended with the Flyers short-handed. The Flyers killed the penalty -- and continued to dominate Washington. After three periods, the Flyers had outshot them 23-8. "There was a lot of emotion the first two periods," Giroux said. "There was a lot of good stuff." The ended the first period up 2-0. Sean Couturier freed the puck after a clean hit on Jack Hillen along the boards, and Giroux pounced for his first goal. Voracek scored less than 2 minutes later on a power-play goal, firing from the top of the circle. Mike Greens turnover early in the second led to Girouxs unassisted goal and Halls fifth goal of the season came on a deflection for a 4-0 lead. That was all for Holtby, who allowed four goals on 18 shots. "We didnt come out with enough to let them know that were here," Capitals coach Adam Oates said. The Capitals, just outside the playoff picture at the moment, nearly pulled off an amazing comeback. Ward made it 4-1, Ovechkin scored his 44th goal after the Flyers failed to clear the puck, and Brouwer fired a perfect pass from Hillen past Mason to make it a one-goal game. The Capitals took 12 shots on goal in the first 11 minutes, forcing Flyers coach Craig Berube to call timeout. Voracek gave the Flyers a needed cushion when he raced down the slot and pounded the puck past Grubauer for the 5-3 lead. Laich deflected the puck past Mason with 6 minutes left in the game to make it 5-4. But they could never score the tying goal. Downie capped the scoring with an empty-netter. Both teams were busy leading up to Wednesdays deadline. The Flyers landed MacDonald and sent defenceman Andrej Meszaros to the Boston Bruins for a 2014 third-round draft choice. Washington made two deals Tuesday, adding left wing Dustin Penner in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks, while shipping forward Martin Erat to Phoenix. NOTES: With Halak unavailable, the Capitals recalled Grubauer from Hershey of the American Hockey League before the game. He had been scheduled to make a personal appearance at a Turkey Hill Mini Market in Lancaster, Pa. ... The Flyers won three of five games in the season series. ' ' '