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HOUSTON -- Houston defensive end Antonio Smith apologized Monday for using the word "spying" about New England, but didnt exactly back down from the accusations he made after the Texans loss to the Patriots. On Sunday after Houstons 34-31 loss, Smith told reporters that the Texans had some new wrinkles in their defence and it was "miraculous" how the Patriots changed their offence to key on the defence. He said then: "Either teams are spying on us or scouting us. I dont know what it is." On Monday, he said that he thought reporters in Houston knew him well enough to know that he could be joking and still be curious about something like this at the same time. "Im sorry I said the word spying because of a prior engagement of them being caught spying before," he said. The NFL fined New England coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the team $250,000 and took away a first-round pick in the 2008 draft for videotaping New York Jets signals during a game on Sept. 9, 2007. Belichick said he thought that was allowed and apologized for what he said was a mistake in his interpretation of the rule prohibiting it. Belichick was asked on a conference call Monday morning if he saw Smiths comments. "Yeah, I saw them," he said. "I dont have any comment on them. I think thats a league matter." Houston coach Gary Kubiak also was questioned about what Smith said and refused to address them directly. "I have the utmost respect for their organization, their players, their coaches, their head coach and the standard that theyve been setting for a long, long time in this league," he said. "So ... they did a great job yesterday and have been doing it a long time." The loss extended Houstons franchise-record skid to 10 games. The Texans were up 17-7 at halftime before New England rallied for the win. Smith said Monday that he was surprised his comments caused such a stir and wondered why no one had a sense of humour about what he said. "Though it may be something I was curious about that kind of didnt seem right," he said. "Like how all of a sudden the change here? It wasnt a serious matter to where I was thinking: Aw man, theyre spying on us. Theyre cheating. Things like that to the point where it gets to a big story about me accusing them of cheating. Its me being me, being funny." Houston will try to end its skid Thursday night at Jacksonville. Paul Kariya Jersey . However, it wasnt a problem on Monday night. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for his 56th career shutout in the New York Islanders 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. Joe Sakic Jersey . Tensions rose in the first period when Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik hit Bruins forward Loui Eriksson with what appeared to be a clean hit. http://www.hockeyavalanche.com/authentic...alanche-jersey/. - New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis says the club has an agreement to bring back outside linebacker Parys Haralson on a one-year deal. Lanny McDonald Jersey .S. - Nova Scotias Mary Fay guaranteed at least one more match and a shot at the Canadian junior curling championships final on home ice. Patrick Roy Jersey . The visitors missed a host of good chances to win the game, and were left to rue substitute Ivo Ilicevics strike against the crossbar in the 86th minute, when he only had the goalkeeper to beat.OTTAWA -- The New Jersey Devils hate shootouts and for good reason. The Devils could only cringe as they watched Erik Karlsson score the winner in the shootout, lifting the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 win Thursday night. The Devils are now 0-12 in shootouts this season. New Jersey goaltender Cory Schneider was visibly disgusted by yet another shootout loss. "Take one of our quotes from any point this year and apply it to tonight," said Schneider, who faced 32 shots. "Its the same result." Jaromir Jagr didnt know whether to laugh or cry at the Devils fate. "Its frustrating, no question about it," said Jagr. "(The shootout) probably cost us the playoffs, but youve got no other choice but to work on it." Karlsson is now 1-2 in shootouts this season and said he enjoys the challenge of scoring under pressure. "Its a fun thing to do," said Karlsson. "It feels like weve been pretty successful over the course of the year, but its obviously always nice to score." Although eliminated from the playoffs the Senators, who have now won three in a row, are hoping to finish the season strong. "Thats why we play this sport, its to win games," Karlsson said. "Even though we havent done it on a regular basis this year like we wanted to thats what were going to keep playing for no matter where we are in the standings and it feels good to put a couple together." Mike Hoffman also scored for the Senators (35-31-14) as Robin Lehner stopped 38 shots to win his third straight game. Michael Ryder scored his 18th of the season for the Devils (34-29-17). The game was forced into overtime as neither was able to break a 1-1 tie through the third. With 35 seconds remaining in overtime the Senators went on the power play, but were unable to take advantage. Overtime proved to be the best part of the game. The Devils had a great chance on a 3-on-1, but Lehner stopped Jagr and at the other end Schneider robbed Chris Phillips from in close. By the end of overtime Jagr had been stopped three times, including on a breakaway. Lehner felt good about his game, especially the stops he made on Jagr. "Hes a great player so its fun to see him come down the ice," said Lehner. "You want to stop him." The game lacked any intensity for the first 30 minutes and looked like two teams who missed the playoffs playing out the season. Devils coach Peter DeBoer admitted his teeam was flat the first 10 minutes and attributed it to the team still dealing with the reality of not making the playoffs.dddddddddddd New Jersey was officially eliminated Wednesday night. "You could see we were a little bit out of it," said DeBoer. "There was a little bit of a hangover, but I thought once we started getting into the game and started to move and we carried the play. We should have had more than one goal." The first excitement for the 19,270 on hand at Canadian Tire Place came midway through the second when Ales Hemsky was awarded a penalty shot after being pulled down by Marek Zidlicky. Hemsky made little of the opportunity as he shot wide of the net. "We were a little sloppy early on, but I thought after that we woke up and generated chances and played our game," said Schneider. "A little more up and down than we would have liked, but at least it was an entertaining game." The play did, however, seem to inspire the Senators as they scored a minute later when Mika Zibanejad made a pass back to a trailing Hoffman. Zibanejad played just two shifts in the third period before leaving the game. He was taken to hospital for precautionary reasons. The Senators gave details on the nature of his injury. The Devils tied it at the 17-minute mark of the period as the Senators were unable to clear a rebound and Tim Sestito found Ryder through traffic. A scoreless first period saw Ottawas Mark Stone miss on a great opportunity and Clarke MacArthur being robbed point blank. The Devils didnt register their first shot until the eight-minute mark. The Senators will play their last home game of the season Saturday when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs, while the Devils return home to wrap up the season. Notes: C Colin Greening returned to the Senators lineup after missing the last six games with a lower-body injury. The Senators were without D Jared Cowen (lower body, day-to-day) and RW Bobby Ryan (sports hernia, out for season). LW Matt Kassian and C Jean-Gabriel Pageau were healthy scratches. ... The New Jersey Devils LW Patrik Elias returned after missing the last two games. The Devils were without C Adam Henrique (undisclosed, day-to-day), C Jacob Josefson (lower body, day-to-day), LW Ryan Clowe (head, day-to-day) and D Bryce Salvador (lower body, day-to-day). D Peter Harrold and D Eric Gelinas were healthy scratches. ' ' '