Neues » land, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington on the trek. Denver is 3-

WASHINGTON -- Julien Brouillette wont be joining his five Washington Capitals teammates who are on their way to play Olympic hockey in Sochi. Tigers Jerseys China . He did, however, help send them off on a winning note. Brouillette broke a scoreless tie with his first NHL goal midway through the third period, Braden Holtby stopped 25 shots and the Washington Capitals beat the New Jersey Devils 3-0 Saturday night in the teams final game before the Olympic break. "I couldnt think of anything. It was so confusing, but great at the same time," Brouillette said of the goal. "Its going to be hard to sleep tonight." After the Capitals controlled a faceoff in the New Jersey zone, Brouillette beat Cory Schneider on the short side with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle at the 10:50 mark. The goal follows an assist Brouillette earned in his NHL debut Thursday night. "Im sure hes flying pretty high right now," Capitals coach Adam Oates said. "Big goal. I havent seen the replay yet, but I know it was close to being tipped and the goalie getting frozen there a little bit there. But you know what, (Nicklas Backstrom) won a draw. Thats what its about." Martin Erat scored an empty-netter with 1:47 left for his first goal of the season to go along with 21 assists, and Troy Brouwer added another -- his 100th career goal -- 36 seconds later. Backstrom had two assists. After starting in place of an ill Michael Neuvirth and getting the win Thursday night, Holtby earned his third shutout of the season and 10th in his career in Saturday nights win. "He came in there (Thursday night) and played great and played very solid today," Oates said. Scoring chances were at a premium for both teams. "Obviously the Devils play that kind of game. They are will to play it every night, and its a frustrating team to play," Oates said. "They dont give you much. I looked up with nine minutes left in the third period, and I think it was 20 each in shots. Both teams played stingy." Schneider finished with 23 saves. "We didnt do enough offensively I thought to draw enough penalties to maybe create some power plays late," New Jersey coach Peter DeBoer said. "We had enough chances to get two or three goals. Weve got to finish something off." The win moves Washington to within one point of eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 63 points. The Capitals have won three of their last four and snapped a seven-game losing streak (0-6-1) against Metropolitan Division opponents. "Crucial," Capitals defenceman John Carlson said of the win. "This one a little bit more than the last one, but obviously for our team everythings crucial right now, and (well) carry a little bit of momentum into the break and we know we have our work cut out for us when we get back." New Jersey is in the thick of the hunt with 61 points, and both teams will have 23 games remaining after the break. "Teams have made late charges and gotten in the playoffs and done some damage in the playoffs. Of course we think there is still time," Schneider said, "but weve got to put words into action here and make it happen." The Devils, playing the second of back-to-back games, have lost 5 of 7. Carlson (United States), Alex Ovechkin (Russia), Backstrom and Marcus Johansson (Sweden) and Erat (Czech Republic) are the Capitals headed to Sochi. From New Jersey, Jaromir Jagr, Patrik Elias and Marek Zidlicky will be joining the Czech Republic team, and Damien Brunner will play for Switzerland. The Devils outshot the Capitals 11-6 in the first period as the teams failed to convert two power-play opportunities apiece. Early in the second, New Jerseys Adam Henrique took a centring pass and wristed a shot past Holtby, but it banged off the left post. "I thought we battled hard," Elias said. "We played most of the game the way we wanted to. They just got the one goal that we didnt." Later in the period Schneider stopped Karl Alzners wrister from close range and made two follow-up saves on Jay Beagle. NOTES: The Capitals finished 0 for 4 on the power play and the Devils were 0 for 3. ... New Jersey D Anton Volchenkov (lower body injury) missed his third straight game. ... Washington D Mike Green (concussion) missed his fifth game and C Mikhail Grabovski (left ankle injury) missed his eighth. ... New Jersey leads the season series 2-1. Detroit Tigers Shirts . Its the second of three meetings between these teams this season. Vancouver was a 2-1 winner on home ice December 22nd. Tigers Jerseys 2020 . -- The Grand Rapids Griffins scored three goals in 33 seconds of the second period en route to defeating the Hamilton Bulldogs 6-1 in American Hockey League action on Friday. https://www.cheaptigers.com/ . The Tiger-Cats announced on Friday the linebacker has signed a new contract with the team through the 2016 season.The Toronto Raptors close out a four-game homestand Sunday afternoon as they welcome the recently streaking Denver Nuggets to the Air Canada Centre. Toronto is 1-2 on their current homestand following Fridays 90-83 loss to the two-time defending NBA champion Miami Heat. You can listen to the game on TSN Radio 1050 at 1pm et. The Nuggets are on a five-game winning streak. LeBron James led the Heat with 27 points in the game against the Raptors on Friday. DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points to lead the hosts and Rudy Gay ended with 21 and 11 rebounds. Kyle Lowry posted 15 points for a squad that committed 21 turnovers, leading to 26 Miami points. Toronto shot 38.4 percent and made only eight of its 30 3-point attempts. The Raptors struggled at the foul line, too, making 19-of-32. "Free throws, that was the story," said Raptors forward Tyler Hansbrough. "We have to do a better job, myself included." After Toronto, which is 3-5 up north, hosts the Nuggets, it will head west for three games against Golden State, Phoenix and the Los Angeles Lakers. DeRozan leads the NBA in scoring with 28.0 points since November 15 and is averaging 23.4 ppg at home. Gay is posting an average of 19.0 ppg in his previous five and has at least one block in eight games in a row. Sundays game between Toronto and Denver is the first of two this season. The Nuggets will host the Raptors on Jan. 31 and both teams split two meetings in 2012-13. The Nuggets have won 10 of 12 and 15 of the past 18 matchups with Toronto. Detroit Tigers Pro Shop. . The Nuggets made it five wins in a row with Fridays 97-95 edging of the lowly New York Knicks, as Randy Foye finished with 17 points and defended Carmelo Anthonys 14-foot turnaround jumper with 2.1 seconds left. "Much respect to Carmelo, but at the end of the game, I realize were fighting for our lives," Foye told NBA.com. "Im just saying to myself, Im going to make him take a tough shot, no matter what. If he makes it over me with a hand up, I can live with it. But I cant live with giving him an easy shot, just because hes Carmelo." Ty Lawson led Denver with 22 points, Nate Robinson netted 16 off the bench and both Wilson Chandler and J.J. Hickson scored 13 points. Hickson also grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds for the Nuggets, who shot 43.7 percent, but struggled from 3-point range (9-of-24). Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried left the game in the third quarter with a contusion of his quadriceps and had four points and six rebounds. The Nuggets hope Faried will be able to make the trip and he is questionable Sunday. Lawson has scored 10 or more points in all 15 of his games for the Nuggets, who are 9-3 since an 0-3 start. A six-game winning streak at home has helped. Denver has won back-to-back road games and will also visit Brooklyn, Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington on the trek. Denver is 3-4 outside the Rockies this season. ' ' '