Results tagged “atlanticdivision”

• Devils 5, Hurricanes 1: To be fair, Carolina was without three of its best players, but even a full-strength Hurricanes team would have had trouble with the Devils. New Jersey allowed only 22 shots the entire game and blew by Carolina for its seventh win in nine games. That makes them tied for the Eastern Conference lead with Ottawa and Montreal and two points clear of Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division. The Senators and the Penguins, however, have a game in hand. Travis Zajac, Mike Mottau, Jay Pandolfo, Johnny Oduya and Zach Parise all took part in the scoring. This was classic shutdown mode for a team peaking at the right time.
• Islanders 3, Sharks 2: If you can't beat the opposing goaltender, why not bloody his face and then get the puck into the net? That more teams haven't tried this method is one of the world's biggest unsolved mysteries. Radek Martinek couldn't get the puck home, but he did do enough damage to Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov's mask that the netminder had to get stitches. He probably should have stayed in the dressing room. Andy Hilbert and Mike Comrie helped tie the game in less than a minute, and then Freddy Meyer did the glamorous work to give the Islanders a home win. They're one point out of a playoff spot, but they've played more games than Buffalo, Boston and Philadelphia, the teams above them in the Eastern Conference standings.

• Rangers 5, Canadiens 3: Fans who tired of FOX's marathon Super Bowl pregame show may have migrated to NBC to catch this inspired effort by the Rangers. Playing in Montreal -- did any of them get to watch the Super Bowl, or even want to watch? -- the Blueshirts scored five unanswered goals after trailing, 3-0, early in the second period. Chris Drury had the go-ahead goal, and Scott Gomez, Michal Rozsival, Martin Straka and Brandon Dubinsky also scored. Coach Tom Renney, who has not had the most job security of late, described this as a character win. The Rangers sit at seventh place in the Eastern Conference, with 60 points. They trail the Flyers -- whom they dominated -- by only three points in their Atlantic Division.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: That Other Comeback"

• Devils 4, Hurricanes 1: Martin Brodeur only needed to make 20 saves in this one. The Devils have now won seven of nine. Travis Zajac, Brian Gionta and Sergei Brylin all had goals, but it was Patrik Elias scoring the game-winner for the second straight time. They could have had six goals had they not hit the post twice. That fatigue-induced slow start is a distant memory for New Jersey, which leads the Atlantic Division.
• Flyers 6, Rangers 2: When Ryan Hollweg scored two early goals, something had to tell the Rangers this wasn't a typical game. Then, poof! Bad news comes in threes, and it came in threes times two at the Garden. Henrik Lundqvist made it the whole game despite allowing one sixth of all the shots he faced in. Montreal visits New York on Saturday night.

All is well in Knicks camp. They're playing well on the court, fans love them, MSG is packed, all their players are completely sane, and their coach/GM is the talk of the town. Actually, that's how things are in Knicks-fantasy land. Back here on planet earth, the Knicks are a dismal 2-7, sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic Division, their star point guard is coming off the bench, and their coach/GM is throwing his...

The Knicks, a team David Stern described as “not a model of intelligent management,” comes into the 2007-08 NBA season with some reasons for optimism - on the court. Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry will be a tough 1-2 punch in the low post while a healthy Jamal Crawford and Quentin Richardson should combine with Stephon Marbury to provide a solid perimeter game. David Lee will give plenty of quality minutes and rebounds for a team that should easily put up over 100 points a night.

It doesn’t make up for the NLCS, but the Mets got 2007 off to a great start, pummeling Chris Carpenter and getting a great start from Tom Glavine. Paul LoDuca had 3 RBI’s and Carlos Delgado had 2, while Shawn Green got off to a good start with a 2-for-4 night at the plate.

Stephon Marbury had an amazing night, scoring 43 points while almost single-handedly leading the team to victory. The Knicks out-shot and out-rebounded the Mavericks, but were done in by 25 turnovers.

The Islanders controlled the game for most of the first two periods and took a 1-0 lead off of a goal by Simon. But, the Rangers rallied and the newest Ranger, Paul Mara, scored off of the power play to tie the game at one.

While the calendar says February, the intensity reflected April or May as both teams battled until the end. New Jersey took the lead off of a goal by Brian Raflaski, but Petr Prucha tied things up late in the second period and after a fight, the teams came out scrapping in the third period.

The win gives the Devils a commanding 10-point lead in the Atlantic Division. While there is still plenty of hockey left in the season, no one is playing better than New Jersey right now and unless the Rangers shake things up they will be battling to make the playoffs and not to win the division.

Defensively, it was another bad night for the club as the Islanders launched 38 shots and controlled play at both ends of the ice. Darius Kasparitis had only 10 minutes of ice time and looked lost. On the plus side, Thomas Pock looked good, but the Rangers need to figure out how to fix things quickly.

-Rangers 5, Stars 2: Matt Cullen scored two goals, including the go-ahead score 57 seconds into the second period as the Rangers rolled to their fifth straight win. They haven't lost since Dec. 3, when the Islanders took them down. With the Devils' loss, the Rangers lead the Atlantic Division by four points, and they're finally playing hockey like they did during their best stretches last year. Thursday's game was wide open, but the Rangers adapted. Henrik Lunqvist made 43 saves.

-Boston 97 New York 90: The Knicks dug themselves a seemingly insurmountable hole in the third quarter, yet almost escaped. Down 30 points, New York staged a furious comeback and had two possessions in the last minute of the game down only by three, but they couldn’t get the job done.

-Bulls 102 Knicks 85: With Channing Frye out for awhile and Quentin Richardson hurt for a few days, New York rolled out a new starting lineup, but suffered the same result as they have most of the season. On the plus side, Eddy Curry had 24 points against his former team.

-Rangers 3 Devils 2: Through two periods New Jersey displayed the form that has made them a great franchise the past twelve years. The Devils played great defense and when they did allow a shot, a rarity in the first 40 minutes; Martin Brodeur was there to back them up. Throw in a soft goal allowed by Lundqvist and a conversion on a 5-on-3 power play and New Jersey seemed in complete control heading into the third period.

The Rangers are not going to sneak up on anyone this year. Last year, they were the surprise of the league, surging to first place in the Atlantic Division before collapsing late in the season to lose the division and get swept out of the playoffs. In the offseason they added players who know how to win in Brendan Shanahan, Aaron Ward and Matt Cullen to their solid core of Jagr, Nylander, Lundqvist, Straka and Prucha. Expect them to return to the playoffs and advance a couple of rounds.

If you watched the last two weeks of the NHL season you wouldn’t expect much out of this matchup. The Devils are playing their best hockey of the season, winning 11 straight and charging to the top of the Atlantic Division. Meanwhile, the Rangers were stumbling all over the place, dropping five straight and choking away a division championship. Today the slate is wiped clean as the two teams meet in the playoffs for the fourth time with the Rangers holding a 3-0 series lead.

What had seemed all-but-guaranteed until Tuesday became certain. The Nets, thanks to a 96-94 win over visiting Atlanta, clinched the Atlantic Division title. Even if they had lost, the Nets still would have clinched, given Philadelphia's loss to Cleveland earlier in the night. Gothamist doesn't care that the Nets didn't look sharp or that Atlanta almost won despite being shorthanded. Thirteen-game winning streaks like the Nets' have a way of taking the sting off a lackluster performance. New Jersey can tie its franchise record (set in 2004) with a win over Charlotte at home on Thursday

Kevin Weekes picked the perfect time to have his best game as a Ranger. New York stumbled out of the gate taking three penalties and committing multiple turnovers, but Weekes would not allow Philadelphia to score, despite facing 15 shots in the period. With Weekes allowing them to stay in the game, the Rangers hit their stride. Jaromir Jagr scored near the end of the first and the Rangers never looked back, destroying the Flyers 6-1.

It seemed like history was going to repeat itself. Monday night the Rangers had taken a 2-0 lead only to see the Flyers score three-straight to beat them. Saturday, the Rangers took a 2-0 lead only to see the Flyers score three-straight, but that is where the pattern ended. This time, the Rangers clawed their way back and won the game 4-3 in overtime to take over first place in the Atlantic Division.

Kevin Weekes had not started in goal since the middle of January and figured to be rusty last night, but the Rangers picked up their defense and didn’t allow an Islander shot in the first eleven minutes of their 5-2 victory. With the upcoming Olympic Break, the Rangers will need to rely on Weekes more to get through the compressed schedule in March and April.

The best thing Isiah Thomas could do right now is put on a uniform. That would prevent him from making anymore dumb trades and give the Knicks the point guard they so desperately need. Saturday, the Knicks fell to the Hornets 109-98 with Stephon Marbury missing his third consecutive game.