WASHINGTON -- Down two goals in the opening period, the New Jersey Devils didnt give up. Instead, they waited for their opportunities, exploited spotty defence and used their patented trap to make things miserable for the Washington Capitals. David Clarkson scored in the fourth round of the shootout, after Johan Hedberg made a pad save on Nicklas Backstrom, and the Devils rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Capitals on Saturday night. "It was a real gutsy effort in this building, down 2-0 to that team," coach Peter DeBoer said. "To hold them to seven shots over the last 45 minutes, I thought it was a real gritty effort." Second-period goals by Petr Sykora and Ryan Carter got the Devils even in a game in which they had a 19-17 edge in shots after being outshot 9-8 in the opening period. "It would have been easy to sit back, but the group of guys around here dont give up," Carter said. "The second period was a statement for us. (We) sat back a little on our heels in the third, weathered a storm and found a way to get two points." With the game tied, the Devils relied on their trap. That strategy got them to overtime and eventually a road win. With the shootout knotted 1-1, Clarkson skated in on Michal Neuvirth, faked to the right and lifted a backhander over the sliding goalie to give the Devils a split in a weekend home-and-home series with the Capitals. Zach Parise also scored for the Devils in the shootout, and Alex Ovechkin connected for Washington. It was Ovechkins only contribution on a frustrating evening in which he had 11 hits as he tried to make up for his lack of offence. "My job is to score goals, not to make hits," Ovechkin said. "The second period, I probably had three chances to score, but I didnt do the right thing." The Devils have won three of four. Troy Brouwer and Jason Chimera scored for the Capitals in the first period, but Washington coach Bruce Boudreau was denied in his first try at his 200th NHL victory. Boudreau sidestepped a pre-game question about what the milestone would mean, telling reporters, "Im not there yet." Capitals defenceman Roman Hamrlik left the game after taking a cross check in the second period. Boudreau was also missing defenceman Mike Green, and banged-up veteran John Erskine was scratched just before warmups, leaving Washington no time to recall anyone from the minors. Boudreau was forced to shorten his bench and insert forward Brooks Laich in the back to compensate for Hamrliks absence. "Will you take a point? Yes," Boudreau said. "When you have a 2-0 lead, will you take a point? No. The goals they scored were mistakes on our part. If we wouldnt make those mistakes, it probably would have been a 2-0 game." Early on, it looked as though the Capitals had jump in their step after winning 3-1 at New Jersey on Friday night. Just 6:30 in, Brouwer gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead. Brouwer intercepted Adam Henriques pass, skated in on Hedberg, got the goalie down, and beat him at the right post for his fourth goal. Washington made it 2-0 at 16:10, just as a tripping penalty against New Jerseys Anton Volchenkov expired. Chimera tipped in John Carlsons drive from the right point. However, the Capitals couldnt extend their surge. New Jersey limited Washington to two second-period shots, and goals by Sykora and Carter erased the Capitals lead. Sykora cut the deficit in half at 12:18, one-timing a short drop pass off a faceoff from the left circle past Neuvirth. The Devils tied it at 18:54 of the second period when Carter, stationed between the circles, redirected a left-wing pass from Bryce Salvador for his first of the season. NOTES: Boudreau, who was coaching in his 322nd career game, is trying to reach 200 wins in the second fastest time, behind Don Cherry, who needed 341 games in the era before overtime. Since the shootout was introduced in 2005, only Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle has reached 200 wins, doing it in his 374th game. ... Green sat out one night after leaving in the first period following a knee-to-knee collision with Carter. Green had missed the previous six games because of a twisted right ankle. ... Devils LW Ilya Kovalchuk (lower body) missed his fourth straight game. cheap nfl jerseys china . After arriving in this picturesque Swiss city on Wednesday, the jetlagged Canadians used their pre-tournament off-day to hit the Alps and take in the sights from the top of Mount Pilatus. cheap jerseys nfl . - The Chicago Bears released veteran safety Chris Harris on Thursday after he asked for a trade, ending his second run with the team. http://www.chinanfljerseyswholesal... . And there was no shortage of talk Tuesday as Toronto FC paraded out 19 players as well as its manager and director of team and player operations at the clubs $21-million training centre. [url=http://www.chinanfljerseyswholesale.com/]jerseys from china . -- The Minnesota Vikings have activated running back Adrian Peterson from the physically unable to perform list Sunday, with coach Leslie Frazier saying Peterson had done everything in his rehab that could be done working by himself. cheap jerseys . Italy coach Cesare Prandelli trimmed his provisional squad from 32 to 25 on Monday. One of the players axed was Zenit St. Petersburg defender Domenico Criscito, who was officially placed under investigation for possible match-fixing when he played at Genoa.Were back from the holidays with more Tweet Bag action! This week its all about trades; trades that didnt happen, trades that could happen and what it would cost Toronto to make a trade happen. So, happy new year and enjoy this weeks questions. As always if you have a question, tweet me @timpchisholm @nickdelucoWere the Raps ever in on Harden? Pre-Lowry trade? Obviously no Raptor official has gone in the record about this, but back in October the rumour was that Oklahoma City was interested in dealing with the Raptors (and a small handful of other teams) but it would have cost the Raptors Jonas Valanciunas, which would have put a quick end to the conversation. Its an interesting nugget to look back on, though, and it strikes at the heart of what makes rebuilding so difficult. The Raptors - in theory - passed on a legit All-Star-calibre wing, a known commodity, in favour of a potential All-Star big man that remains an unknown commodity. The risk you run in making such a decision is that the potential may never be capitalized on and youll have to look back knowing you passed on the known for the unknown and lost-out a result. Of course, the Raptors are of the very well-reasoned belief that Valanciunas is not a player to trade away. First of all, his four-year rookie-scale contract makes roster maneuvering around him a lot easier than Hardens maximum-level contract. Secondly, he projects to be a very high-end option at a rare NBA position, the true centre, and his style of play perfectly fits in with how Dwane Casey wants this team to play. Lastly, who knows what else, on top of Valanciunas, the Thunder would have demanded. Calderon? Davis? Ross? Suffice it to say the Raptors and Thunder did not consummate a deal and well have to wait a few years to see if Toronto made the right call. @andrew2doucetteGotta give talent to get it back. Would Ross or ED be available in a package for a Rudy Gay type? If Toronto wants a Rudy Gay-type, then theyll have to make Ross and/or Davis available whether they want to or not. The fact is that Torontos high-salary options arent highly-coveted pieces, at least when it comes to making a trade for guys like Gay or Pau Gasol, so Toronto will have to sweeten the pot to acquire such an asset. Plus, when teams trade away All-Star-level talent they almost always wantt picks and young assets in return.dddddddddddd Well, Toronto cant offer picks thanks to the Kyle Lowry deal, so young assets would have to be included. One could make the argument that if you are getting Gay or Gasol back in a trade then you can afford the loss of Ross or Davis because their minutes will be eaten up by the new guy, anyway. However, Bryan Colangelo has been known to be hesitant to trade away his former lottery picks, so well see if that winds up quashing any potential deals over the next few weeks. @DamonTonkoWith Jazz losing PG, maybe try for Millsap? Try? Sure. Succeed? Unlikely. Mo Williams is only slated to be on the shelf for six weeks after thumb surgery, not the rest of the season, so would Utah really want to part with their most productive player to cover such a short chunk of time? Yes, Millsap is a free agent at the end of the season and yes, there is a chance that Utah deals him to avoid losing him for nothing. However, I dont think Jose Calderon holds so much appeal that he alone would be enough to get Millsap to Toronto. In fact, youd almost certainly have to include Terrence Ross since Utahs own attempts to stock their wings through the draft have so far failed to pan out. So, that raises the question: how much do you offer for a player that will be in a position to leave you at the end of the season? Millsap may fit Torontos style to a tee, but that doesnt mean that Toronto necessarily fits what Millsap wants equally well. Its also worth remembering that Millsap will be in line for a major pay increase from his current $8.6-million salary when free agency hits this summer, so Toronto would have to factor that expenditure into their plans, as well. Thats not to say the Raptors should avoid making inquiries into Millsap. In a way hes like the frontcourt version of Kyle Lowry and he would be ideally suited to Torontos roster, but the team would have to be sure that Millsap would be open to re-signing before sweetening to pot too much in anticipation of a deal. That said, of all of the names that are reported to be available right now, Millsap suits Toronto best, but the Raptors would have to be clear on a lot of the particulars before going too hard after a trade that, in all honesty, looks like a long shot considering what Toronto has to offer. ' ' '