Yesterday, the Mets brought back an old tradition, Banner Day, where fans make the most Amazin' banners and vie for top honors. While many banners reference Mr. Met, the team's 50th anniversary, and its storied history—many props to "Fifty Shades of Shea"!— the winning banner was from cousins Olivia Nuzzo of Bay Ridge and Stephanie Giangrande of Bensonhurst, who depicted Mike Piazza's September 21, 2001 home run with a pre-9/11 skyline and the words, "The homerun that helped heal NY! God Bless America! Let's Go Mets!" more ›

If the Devils needed revenge for the 1994 Eastern Conference finals -- and three Stanley Cups since then suggests they didn't -- they finally got it. Eighteen years after falling to the Rangers in seven games, the Devils wrapped up up a berth in the Stanley Cup finals with a 3-2 overtime win in Game 6. Adam Henrique scored on a scramble in front of the net only 63 seconds into the extra session. more ›

This wasn't a pretty game from a hockey standpoint, but it was an incredibly entertaining one. New Jersey stunned the Rangers by exploding out of the gate with Stephen Gionta and Patrik Elias scoring in the first four minutes of the game to put the Devils up 2-0. Rangers' coach John Tortorella used his timeout to try and settle his club, but it didn't work and Travis Zajac scored at the 9:49 mark to give New Jersey a three-goal lead- a deficit seemingly insurmountable considering the Rangers' lack of offense in these playoffs. more ›

In both of their wins in the Eastern Conference finals, the Rangers have weathered an early Devils storm and then won it in the third period. In Monday's 4-1 Devils victory, they came out flat but didn't hold off the Devils. The result was a New Jersey win and a tied series ahead of Wednesday's Game 5 at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers are now 0-7 when leading in a series in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs. more ›

With 36 saves, Henrik Lundqvist made it possible for the Rangers to once again stay in a game long enough for their offense to wake up. The alarm clock went off in the third period, and for the second time in three games this series, the Rangers won, 3-0, to take a two-games-to-one-lead. The Rangers have six goals in the third periods of their two wins, and two total in the other seven sessions. Dan Girardi, Chris Kreider (on a deflection) and Ryan Callahan (empty-netter, but it's still something) scored. more ›

While Coach Mike Woodson has said that Jeremy Lin is "absolutely" going to be a Knick next season, Lin has been slightly more cagey about what might come next for him: "Personally, I think it would be great if I come back. But crazy things happen and I don’t really know what’s going to happen.” Now, there are reports that the Nets would love to steal Lin from the Knicks and transplant Linsanity to Brooklyn. At least that means he won't have to break up his new Entourage just yet. more ›

The Blue Room at City Hall was an especially appropriate setting today for the announcement that the Mets will host the 2013 All-Star Game. Mayor Bloomberg was joined by MLB commissioner Bud Selig, Mets owner Fred Wilpon, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon, MLB Executive Vice President Joe Torre, and Citi Field's most beloved resident Mr. Met to make the announcement. "Competition for All-Star Games over the last five years has been enormous," Selig said during the press conference. "The new ballpark, Citi Field, that was certainly a primary reason for it. It was their time in a new ballpark." more ›

For two periods, Game 1 of the Rangers-Devils Eastern Conference finals looked similar to the Blueshirts' first two rounds. Blocked shots, few great scoring chances and Henrik Lundqvist's making save after save. Then the third period opened up into a veritable offensive explosion. Dan Girardi and Chris Kreider beat Martin Brodeur before Artem Anisimov found an empty net to remove all doubt in a 3-0 win. The Devils may have won the first 40 minutes, but they didn't have a goal to show for it. Then the third period belonged to the Rangers. more ›

After an incredibly bipolar season filled with multiple injuries, coaching changes, a revolving door of starting lineups, ego clashes, superstars unable to play with one another, and a month of Linsanity, the Knicks' wacky season ended Wednesday night with a 106-94 loss to the superior Miami Heat in Game 5 of their playoff series. There seem to be a million questions hovering over the team now, already threatening to make their offseason as dysfunctional as this past season. Can Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire coexist? Will Jeremy Lin be back? Will Mike Woodson be coach? Will this lineup ever gel? And will Stoudemire ever help Shane Battier get up? more ›

Everyone's favorite Jets backup quarterback/meme generator/Hoboken resident Tim Tebow is back in the news today thanks to the dog formerly known as Bronco—despite the fact that Yankees fans hate him, it turns out Tebow is a big enough Yankees fan and NY-lover to rename his dog "Bronx." more ›

Despite the mounting injuries and merciless defense of the Miami Heat, the Knicks were able to snatch Game 4 at MSG on Sunday, avoiding a sweep and ending their NBA-record 13 consecutive playoff losing streak. The Knicks are hoping to win tonight in Miami and push the series to a Game 6 back in NY on Friday—but with the losses of Jeremy Lin, Iman Shumpert and Baron Davis, the Knicks are left relying on Mike Bibby and Toney Douglas (who hasn't played once during the series) to lead the team at point guard. Oh yeah, and they'll also be playing a thoroughly pissed-off Heat team, and the ghosts of their recent past: "I just don't want to look at that fire extinguisher at all," Amare Stoudemire said. "But getting a win in Miami would be huge for us." more ›

[Updates Below] We've been there for every minute of this agonizing playoff series between the Knicks and Miami Heat—watched every Carmelo Anthony shot attempt, read about every fire extinguisher incident, listened to every absurdly confidant quote. And now we're exactly where we were last season, with a Game 4 elimination match at MSG. Amare Stoudemire is starting, bandaged hand and all—but will it make any difference? We'll be here to update the post through every high and low this afternoon. more ›

Last night was perhaps the cruelest playoff loss yet for the Knicks in this series against the Miami Heat: while game 1 was a blowout and game 2 was just glass-smashing, the Heat actually played really badly for a large amount of Thursday night at the Garden. LeBron James seemed to be doing everything he could in the first three quarters to give this one to the Knicks, yet they couldn't quite keep their first half momentum going, resulting in a thoroughly depressing 87-70 loss. Between their looming sweep and his lingering injuries, it's practically a certainty that Jeremy Lin won't risk more injury by playing in Game 4 on Sunday. But there is something he can do for the team: invite them over to binge eat his jersey made entirely of fruit-roll ups. more ›

In the wake of two bad losses to the Miami Heat and Fire Extinguishergate, the Knicks are not exactly in great shape heading into Game 3 at the Garden tonight. But even with no Iman Shumpert, Amare Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin, the team is still hopeful they can end their playoff win drought...somehow: “It’s a big challenge but we’ve been facing challenges all year,’’ Carmelo Anthony said after yesterday’s practice. “We all got to do it. I’m not going to do it myself. We just got to believe we can go out there and win the game. “They did what they had to do on their court. Now it’s our turn.” more ›

Marian Gaborik, who scored 41 goals in the regular season, had one goal in nine playoff contests entering Wednesday's Game 3 against the Capitals. The Rangers had lost seven straight playoff overtime games. Both droughts ended 14 minutes, 41 seconds into the third overtime, when Gaborik finally beat Braden Holtby between the Washington goalie's legs. Henrik Lundqvist stood tall and made 45 saves to end his overtime losing streak. The Rangers lead the best-of-seven series two games to one, with Game 4 set for Saturday. The teams will welcome the extra day off. more ›

With one foolish penalty, Brad Richards helped undo a two-goal comeback he helped start, and the Rangers fell to the Capitals, 3-2. The center scored in the final minute of the first period but took a bad holding penalty at the 12:29 mark. That set up the game-winner from Alex Ovechkin, who was a much bigger factor than he was in Game 1. The series is tied at one game apiece, with Game 3 coming Wednesday in Washington. more ›

Well, that's one way to start a playoff series: the Knicks got utterly destroyed in game one of their playoff series against the Miami Heat yesterday afternoon. After a well-played first quarter, the game was never close again—the 100-67 final score doesn't even give you an idea of how pathetic it was. So all that confidence was definitely not justified. NY Times reporter Michael Powell has an idea of how they can win game two though: "Sign Ewing, page Oakley at car wash, ask Starks if he is still limber..." more ›