Photograph of Islanders celebrating a second period goal from Ruslan Fedotenko by Frank Franklin II/AP Islanders 4 Rangers 3 (Shootout): This was not a game for fans of goaltenders. Henrik Lundqvist was terrible, Wade Dubielewicz was too but better when it counted and the Islanders prevailed in a sloppy game. Blake Comeau got things started when he scored by throwing the puck off of Michal Rozsival to put the Islanders in front. The Rangers......

Magic 118, Knicks 92: If the Knicks can't get motivated for games when they haven't played the night before, what makes anyone think they would appear energized for the second half of a back-to-back? One night after losing at Atlanta, New York put forth a token effort and even led by five in the second quarter, but it then fell back to Earth and got crushed. Orlando's Dwight Howard dominated the Knicks -- who were......

Photograph of Rangers Brandon Dubinsky and Jaromir Jagr celebrating Dubinsky's first period goal, with Hurricane Bret Hedican looking on, by Karl B DeBlake/AP Rangers 4 Carolina 2: It was the perfect blend of the old and the new for New York on Thursday. Brandon Dubinsky got things started for the Rangers with a great backhand off of the pretty feed from Jaromir Jagr. Sean Avery came off the bench at the right time to......

Rangers 4, Sabres 3: Not only did the Rangers exact some revenge for their defeat in last season's playoffs, but they improved their chances of qualifying for this postseason. Sean Avery broke a third-period tie and put the Rangers two points ahead of the Sabres in the race for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Jaromir Jagr, Brandon and Nigel Dawes also scored for the Rangers, who have picked up points in their last......

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,......

The Islanders survived on Thursday, outlasting the Maple Leafs 5-4 to get their second win in a row. Bryan Berard got things started in the first period with a power-play goal at 16:12 of the period. Berard's goal was wiped out quickly in the second period as Darcy Tucker and Mats Sundin scored back-to-back goals within 1:30 of each other to put Toronto up 2-1. Rusian Fedotenko scored his first of two goals to tie......

Nets 87, Bucks 80: For one night at least, Jason Kidd did his best to help the Nets get maximum value in a trade. The Nets also proved that even they couldn't find a way to lose a weak team playing without its best player (Michael Redd). The fans cheered loudly for Kidd before the game, so they either want him gone -- and are cheering his efforts to leave -- or love him so......

Devils 2, Sabres 1 (SO): Aggressive play cost the Devils the win in regulation, but Martin Brodeur, Brian Gionta and Patrik Elias too center stage in the shootout to allow the Devils to continue their home dominance. They have picked up 21 of 22 points at their new Prudential Center in the last 11 games. Things didn't look so rosy when Jason Pominville tied the game with 1:47 to go, but the Devils bounced......

Vancouver 3 Rangers 0: They kept trying and trying, but they simply could not break through. Roberto Luongo made big save after big save as he withstood 27 Rangers' shots to record the shutout. Ryan Kessler scored the first goal of the contest in the second period off of a tough angle that Stephon Valiquette couldn’t handle. Fedor Tyutin got caught on a pinch late in the third period that the Canuks turned into a......

Sonics 117, Knicks 110: Knicks fans deserve a lot of credit. No one's pointing out how hard it is to chant "Fire Isiah." That phrase has a ton of vowel sounds. They held off for part of this game, but at the end, the result was the same. Zach Randolph is the only self-respecting Knick, though Jamal Crawford has been putting up better numbers with Stephon Marbury still out. The sum of the parts is......

76ers 101, Knicks 90: Under most circumstances, losing to one of the worst teams in the NBA would be of concern to the Knicks. But with the death of guard Stephon Marbury's father, it doesn't seem so bad. Marbury played for the first half and scored two points but didn't come back out for the second half. Jamal Crawford had his second straight excellent game, but the Knicks frontcourt couldn't contain Samuel Delambert. The two......

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......

Carolina 4 Rangers 0: Things got ugly early and the Rangers never recovered. Carolina got two goals in the first, the second off of Ranger’s skate to jump out to an early lead and New York could not muster any offense against Cam Ward. Ward dominated New York getting big saves when they were needed and the Rangers could not muster an offensive attack in the game. The Hurricanes added two goals in the third......

Rangers 4, Islanders 2: It's a good thing these teams play each other eight times each season. Otherwise, the Rangers might have a confidence problem. Given enough opportunities to beat a particular opponent, any team is bound to cash in sooner or later. After losing the first three games against the Islanders, the Blueshirts finally broke through. Jaromir Jagr and Chris Drury each had a goal and an assist against Rick DiPietro. The Islanders still......

Islanders 3 Ottawa 2 (Shootout): The Islanders got a huge victory Wednesday night thanks to some great goaltending from Rick DiPietro. DiPietro made 35 saves during the game and an additional 5 in the shootout to propel New York to victory. Ottawa came back from a 2-1 deficit in the third with a goal with under two minutes remaining in the game. Both teams had power plays in overtime, but were unable to convert and......

Knicks 85 Chicago 78: Seriously, that isn’t a misprint, the Knicks won the game! Afterwards, while the fans stormed the court and the tickertape rained down, Isiah Thomas took a minute to point out that everyone was wrong about him and that this triumph was his vindication. Ok, it didn’t quite happen that way, but based on some of the reaction you had to assume that the Knicks had actually won a big game, rather......

Rangers 2 Tampa 1: New York got back on track quickly, coming out in the first period with intensity and jumping to a 1-0 lead thanks to Fedor Tyutin. Henrik Lundqvist wss his usually brilliant self, making 32 saves including several huge ones while the Rangers clung to a one-goal lead. It wasn’t until Colton Orr hit a knuckleball off the stick of a Lightning defenseman at 2:05 of the third period, that the......

Islanders 2, Rangers 1: For all the success the Rangers have had against the rest of the league, they still can't solve the Islanders. Five-game winning streak? Poof! Rick DiPietro made 18 saves and the Islanders won for the third time in three games between the two clubs. Ruslan Fedotenko and Josef Vasicek each scored in the second period, and Michal Rozsival scored a short-handed goal for the Rangers. He now has seven goals......

Rangers 2 Washington 0: It wasn’t an offensive explosion, but it was enough. Chris Drury put the Rangers in front with a goal 6:45 into the second period and the power play clicked again a few minutes later when Michal Rozsival made it 2-0. That’s all that Henrik Lundqvist needed as he recorded his 3rd shutout of the season by making 31 saves. Lundqvist has played every game of the year so far for New......

Ottawa 4 New Jersey 1: It’s been 25 years since the original Colorado Rockies moved to New Jersey and Wayne Gretzky called them a “Mickey Mouse organization”. That team struggled to establish an identity in an area with a historic franchise and, at the time, a franchise that was the best in the NHL, but they managed a 3-3 tie in their first game in their new building. The current Devils are one of the......

Devils 6, Thrashers 5: Down 4-2, the Devils decided to take action. They scored four of the next five goals, including Patrick Elias' game-winner with 28 seconds remaining, to avoid their fourth loss of the season. When a team's goalie's saves is twice the number of goals scored by his team, something's wrong. Martin Brodeur made 12 saves on 17 shots but stayed in the game. This comeback loses some of its luster when the......

SI Yankees 5 Batavia 3: Jose Gil hit his third homer of the year to power the Baby Bombers to victory. Highly touted prospect Delin Betances, a Brooklyn native, had a rocky start allowing two runs over four innings. Luckily, the Yankees can be patient with Betances because they have amassed a wealth of pitching prospects at Trenton. And Phil Hughes is on his way back. Jamestown 3 Brooklyn 2: The Cyclones were up 2-0......

In a flash the Rangers remade their team on the first day of free agency, adding Chris Drury and Scott Gomez. Drury, grew up in Trumbull, Connecticut as a Rangers’ fan and has been one of the top centers in the game since breaking into the league with Colorado in 1998 (not to mention a Little League World Series champion). Gomez has been with the Devils since joining the league in 1999 winning two Stanley......

Red Sox 7, Yankees 6: Alex Rodriguez had two home runs, the Yankees had a four-run lead and everything looked rosy. Then the Red Sox rallied for a five-run eighth and took Mariano Rivera to town. Joe Torre didn't help the cause with some questionable bullpen calls, though no one should have a problem with Rivera's pitching in the eighth inning. Torre might also want to consider not running for Jason Giambi for no reason.......

Rangers 4 Atlanta 2: The Rangers finished off their sweep of the Thrashers in dramatic fashion, coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to finally take the lead on a goal that had to be reviewed for over five minutes. Five minutes into the third period, Matt Cullen unleashed a vicious slapshot that caromed off the top crossbar and appeared to bounce out of the crease. Replays showed the puck had bounced down into......

Yankees 10, Orioles 7: Yeah, you read the headline right. Alex Rodriguez came through in yesterday afternoon's game in the biggest way - with a two-out game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the 9th inning. It was his 2nd home run of the game. The bottom of the ninth inning went something like this: out, out, Robinson Cano single, Derek Jeter walk, Bobby Abreu hit-by-pitch, grand slam by Rodriguez into the black seats. Kei......

Rangers 3, Canadiens 1: Last season saw the Rangers start quickly before backing into the playoffs. Their quick dismissal by the Devils took plenty of the luster off a turnaround season. This season, the Rangers couldn't find a groove until recently, when they have played well and looked like a team that can make a dent in the playoffs. They can be carried by Jaromir Jagr -- who scored a goal and added an assist......

Islanders 3 Rangers 2 (Shootout): Their playoff hopes may be on life-support, but at least the Islanders didn’t have to see their arch-rivals clinch their own spot in the postseason in person. Both team played furiously, which resulted in a wide-open game with both team combining for 72 shots. The Islanders built a 2-0 lead off of a strange deflection and a goal by Satan. The Rangers battled back with a strange deflection of their......

Mavericks 105 Knicks 103: This would have been sweet. The Knicks almost came away with the win of the year, actually the win of the past two years, before losing in the final second to the 61-win Mavericks on the road. 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. Pistons 110 Nets......