The Islanders keep giving Garth Snow a reason to believe. Thursday it was a 1-0 victory over Tampa Bay that put New York back into a playoff spot. New York welcomed back Chris Simon from his latest suspension, but the Uniondale crowd didn’t exactly welcome Simon. When he skated his first shift the boos were louder than the cheers, but things settled down and Simon ended up with nine uneventful shifts on the night. It......

76ers 124, Knicks 84: For the second time this season, the Knicks got blown out by the second-worst team in the division. How is that possible? Start with nine turnovers in the first quarter alone -- and 23 for the game. Sprinkle in some porous defense and everything should come out just fine. The Knicks lost by 40 despite shooting 46 percent from the floor. Too bad Philadelphia made 57 percent of its shots.Nets 110,......

Photograph of the Rangers celebrating as Buffalo Sabres player Ales Kotalik skates away by Frank Franklin II/AP Rangers 5, Sabres 1: Five days off, but only 10 seconds to score. Sean Avery got the Blueshirts off to a great start and they finally got the taste of Sunday's overtime loss to Washington out of their mouths. "I don't think we expected that great of a start," said Brendan Shanahan. He has to be telling......

Knicks 100, Nets 93: No Stephon Marbury, and the Knicks take down the Nets. Of course, the Nets didn't have Jason Kidd (headache), so who knows which team was worse off. Richard Jefferson's heroics couldn't get the job done for the Nets, who continue to play inexplicably poorly at home following road games. Jamal Crawford filled the backcourt "void" for the Knicks with 29 points, and Zach Randolph had 25. Richard Jefferson had 31 points......

Celtics 112, Nets 101: Early indications have the road to the NBA Finals going through Boston. If the Nets entertain any hopes of becoming a legit contender, they'll have to find a better measuring stick. As if the Nets didn't have enough concerns about Vince Carter, their star left the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury. At least he had 17 points when he left. Beating up on the Eastern Conference may......

Knicks 119, Nuggets 112: Isiah Thomas had his Knicks go toe-to-toe with the high-flying Nuggets, and they came out on top despite trailing by 15. Don't look now, but Thomas may have made a smart move in acquiring Zach Randolph. Eddy Curry is still overweight and Renaldo Balkman was still taken too early, but the Knicks put on quite a show for the Garden fans. And it didn't involve the fisticuffs of last season's......

Knicks 94 Orlando 86: Eddy Curry may not be an All-Star, but he is the best player on the Knicks. Saturday Curry scored 27 as New York got a victory in Orlando. Curry was the highlight, but Isiah Thomas’ decision to play only eight players factored into the win as well. Surprisingly, Jerome James got the start, but Channing Fyre and David Lee had great games off of the bench. Coincidentally, Jared Jeffries never made......

Islanders 4 Flyers 2: Rick DiPietro is definitely trying to earn his 15-year contract. Rick had another great night in the nets, stopping 29 of 31 shots and keeping New York in the game while they were blitzed in the first two periods. Jason Blake led the way for the Islanders with 7 shots and a goal and Miroslav Satan added 2 assists. Tampa Bay 3 New Jersey 2 (shootout): Martin Brodeur had a great......

-Knicks 101 Boston 77: It’s hard to believe that this used to be a great rivalry. Two once-proud franchises that are now the laughingstocks of the NBA took the floor in Boston last night and the Knicks came away with an easy victory. Eddy Curry had a great game, but it is important to remember that he wasn’t playing against a center of note. David Lee provided a huge spark again off the bench, grabbing......

One of these days Jagr will get his 53rd goal. The last time the Rangers faced the Islanders; it had appeared that Jagr had scored, only to see the goal credited to Martin Straka. Last night the exact same thing happened in the Rangers’ 3-1 victory over the Islanders. To his credit, Jagr didn’t seem at all interested in the record stating after the game, “The record you might remember two weeks after that. But......

The Rangers and Islanders played 65 minutes of hockey without resolution last night, so they engaged in the first ever shootout for both teams. Three players from each team took shots and when it was over the Islanders had the lone goal and a 3-2 victory. Rick DiPietro was the hero of the game for the Islanders stopping 32 shots, including 14 in the first period when the Rangers opened the game with several great......

Fans will be able to watch hockey again tonight for the first time in sixteen months as every team in the National Hockey League takes to the ice. Before turning on the game, it might be a good idea to review some of the multiple rule changes that will be in place for the 2005-2006 season. As for the local teams, expect a decent year from the Devils. They lost Scott Niedermayer and Scott Stevens,......