The Jets and Washington Capitals engaged in a good old Southeast Division end-to-end wide-open affair, something Jets fans wont see much of anymore with the Jets now in the tighter-checking Western Conference. Jayson Tatum Jersey . After Mondays comments by Coach Claude Noel that its work first and skill second, and that more “A” games are needed, the Jets responded with a 47-shot effort. If not for terrific goaltending by Braden Holtby the Jets would have had two points in regulation. The players said the right things in the morning and went out and performed. Here are some of the comments after the morning skate. “Each guy has to be a difference maker.” - Olli Jokinen “Make yourself accountable first” – Zach Bogosian “React the right way. A lot of us can say we havent been good enough.” – Andrew Ladd Captain Ladd had three assists in the game on a line with Bryan Little (two goals, five on the season) and Devin Setoguchi. Littles first goal was shorthanded, the Jets first of the season and tied the game at one. The second period featured six goals (three apiece) after a scoreless first period. The Jets had three second period goals in the previous nine games. Mikhail Grabovski had opened the scoring, the eighth time in 10 games the Jets have surrendered the games first goal. Grant Clitsome with his first gave the Jets the lead before two by Alex Ovechkin regained the lead for Washington. Blake Wheeler on a line with Evander Kane and Mark Scheifele tied it with 39 seconds left in the period. Overall, the Jets fired 19 shots at Holtby in the second period. Washington again took the lead early in the third on a power play goal by Troy Brouwer. The Caps have the NHLs best power play and went 1-for-5 in the game. The Jets were 0-for-3 and have now gone five straight games without a power play goal after scoring one in each of the first five games. Little tied the game at 7:04, overtime did not produce a winner and it was off to the shootout. The Jets won a seven-round shootout Friday against St. Louis, but unlike Friday - when Ondrej Pavelec stopped the last five Blues shooters - tonight it was the last four Washington shooters scoring to give the Caps the win in a six-round shootout. Martin Erat scored the deciding goal. For the Jets, in order, it was Wheeler (miss), Little (miss), Ladd (goal), Jokinen (goal), Setoguchi (goal), Kane (miss). It was Ladds fourth career three-assist game, while Ovechkin continues to feast on this franchise with 40 goals and 80 points in 54 games. From a Jets standpoint maybe its a good thing they only see him twice a year now. Kane led the Jets in ice time with a career-high 28:41. He had six shots on goal, two blocked and six that missed the net. Little also had six shots on goal and won 16 of 23 face-offs. Scheifele was 57 per cent in the face-off circle and probably had his best game as a pro. Michal Frolik also had six shots on goal. Much of the post-game talk had to do with missed opportunities. Over and above the 47 shots, the Jets had at least another 10 Grade-A chances that missed the net. Ladd talked about not finishing, Kane about creating a lot of scoring opportunities, Wheeler about the positives outweighing the negatives. Coach Noel followed his players up. “We had a lot of opportunities to go ahead in the game. It would have been good to take advantage of some of those good chances,” Noel said. He liked a lot about the game, from the leadership of Ladd to the physical game his team played. “I liked our line combos, we had good resiliency to keep coming back, we got offense from some people who were frustrated. We got a point and got a lot of better play from a lot of players.” General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff was a guest on TSN Jets after the first period and talked about needing more consistency from the team. As for the upcoming four-game road trip, he said: “Too often you look at the big picture. You cant win the big picture – you win whats in front of you.” That would be Thursday in Nashville (TSN Jets, TSN 1290). The Jets finished the six-game home stand 2-3-1 and are now 4-5-1 on the season. John Havlicek Celtics Jersey . The 18-year-old centre was the Senators first-round pick (17th overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. The six-foot 196-pound native of Salmon Arm, B. Gordon Hayward Jersey . It was just time for him to make a big play. Nicolas Batum had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Wesley Matthews scored 18 points, and the Trail Blazers overcame poor-shooting nights by two of their best players in a 94-90 victory over the New York Knicks on Wednesday. MIAMI -- Turns out, the Miami Heat can beat the Brooklyn Nets. And rest hardly led to rust for the two-time defending NBA champions. LeBron James scored 22 points, Ray Allen added 19 and the Heat stayed perfect in this post-season by beating the Nets 107-86 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series. It was the first win for Miami in five meetings with Brooklyn this season. "Its one," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "But I liked the energy, the activity." Chris Bosh scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Dwyane Wade finished with 14 points and Mario Chalmers had 12 for Miami, which recorded at least one regular-season win against every team except Brooklyn, losing four times by a total of 12 points. This one was a different story. A 24-9 run in the third quarter blew things open for the Heat, who hadnt played in eight days after sweeping Charlotte in the opening round. "It was great that we were able to come out the way we did after being off eight days," James said. "We got a lot of work in. We had eight days off of not playing a basketball game but Spo got us in the gym. (We) got each other in the gym. We made each other accountable throughout the layoff and it proved tonight." Deron Williams and Joe Johnson scored 17 points each for the Nets, who got only eight from Paul Pierce and no points from Kevin Garnett in 16 minutes. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday night. "This is the defending champs," Nets coach Jason Kidd said. "Its always going to be at a high level and weve got to find a way to match it." James finished 10 for 15 from the field and Allen -- who had never faced his former Boston "Big 3" compatriots Pierce and Garnett in the playoffs -- was 4 of 7 from 3-point land. "He was focused on the job at hand," James said. Miamis lead was 55-52 early in the third quarter after a 3-pointer by Williams, and every indication was that the Heat and Nets -- who played three one-point games and a double-overtime affair in the regular season -- were heading down to the wire again. Not quite. The Heat took off on the 24-9 run over a 7-minute span, with Bosh scoring the first seven points of that burst to get Miami going. Allens 3-pointer pushed the lead to 14, James and Chris Andersen (who left in the fourth with a riight knee contusion) added two free throws apiece and just like that Miamis lead was up to 79-61. Shaquille ONeal Jersey. "Its fun when you win the game and you can at least for a night do whatever it is you do, have some dinner, chill at home and exhale a little bit," Bosh said. "When you lose, you cant sleep, your stomach hurts and its not a very good situation." For Brooklyn, the trouble came at an unexpected time. The Nets had the best third-quarter scoring differential in the East after Jan. 1, but were outscored 33-23 in that pivotal quarter in Game 1. It was a hectic news day long before Heat-Nets, with Oklahoma Citys Kevin Durant being announced as the leagues MVP, the firing of Golden State coach Mark Jackson and the NBA saying that Los Angeles Clippers president Andy Roeser would be taking an indefinite leave as part of the fallout related to the Donald Sterling scandal. James two-year reign as MVP lasted 198 games. "We have a new MVP, but when you talk about the best players in the world, hes 1A, 1B with Durant," Kidd said. Pregame lineup moves by both clubs lent more intrigue. Miami brought Shane Battier -- who played 2 minutes, total, in the first round against Charlotte -- back into the starting five, while Brooklyn reinserted Shaun Livingston into its lineup after using him off the bench late in the Toronto series. After never leading by more than seven points against Brooklyn in the regular season, the Heat led by 11 after a drive by James with 3:32 left in the first half. But the Nets closed on a 14-6 run, and Williams first beat-the-clock 3-pointer of the game sent Brooklyn into halftime down 46-43. Williams did it again in the third, but that one only got Brooklyn within 79-66. "It came down to defence tonight," Williams said. "Our defensive game plan was not executed at all." NOTES: The Heat held a pregame moment of silence for Hall of Famer Jack Ramsay, who died last week at the age of 89. ... David Beckham, who will be bringing an MLS team to Miami, sat next to the Heat bench. ... Livingston was on the court to warm up for the second half with about 10 minutes left in the intermission. Small problem: The rack of basketballs wasnt on the court yet. ... The Nets are 1-9 all-time against Miami in playoff games. ... Miami had not won consecutive Game 1s since the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the 2012 playoffs. ' ' '
