Photograph of the Devils' Zach Parise battling with the Hurricanes' Scott Walker along the boards of the Prudential Center by Bill Kostroun/APDevils 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......

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......

Knicks 89, Pistons 65: Fans leaving Madison Square Garden on Sunday night had to be asking each other, "Where are the Knicks and what have they done with them?" Normally New York outscores its opponents by 18 in a quarter only when it is down by 25 or so. But the Knicks' 28-10 advantage in the third period helped them put this game out of reach from one of the Eastern Conference's elite teams. Zach......

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......

Devils 2 Sabres 1 (Shootout): The Devils won their third-straight game by continuing their stifling defense and throwing a lot of shots on goal. It took awhile, but Mike Mottau scored with seven minutes left in the third to tie the game and Zach Parise scored the only goal of the shootout for the win. New Jersey’s win extends their Atlantic Division lead over the idle Penguins and Rangers. Nets 109 Washington 106: The Nets......

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......

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......

Mets 6 Cardinals 1: Yes, baseball followed all the other sports and sold out for the highest dollar, ruining the best tradition in sports, Opening Day, but at least they put a New York team into “Opening Night” this year. 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......

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......

Rangers 2 Islanders 1: Why did he do it? He had to know how important this game was and he had to know this wasn’t the time to take a penalty. So, why did Chris Simon decide to take a total cheap shot against Ryan Hollweg? Was it because Hollweg had checked him, cleanly we should note, into the boards? Was it because he has always been willing to mix it up in his career?......

Devils 2 Rangers 1: If this is truly the last time these teams meet in the Meadowlands, then both clubs have honored the last 25 years. 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......

Devils 1 Rangers 0: It was another classic New Jersey game. Brad Lukowich scored in the first period to put them on top and their defense and goaltending made it stand up. Martin Brodeur was 26-26 on save opportunities and the Rangers did not get a single power play in the game. The win gives the Devils a commanding 10-point lead in the Atlantic Division. While there is still plenty of hockey left in the......

Knicks 102, Kings 97: Jamal Crawford scored eight points in the final 1 minute 7 seconds to lead New York over Sacramento in the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee. Crawford's won some other games this sesaon, but should people go as far as David Lee in singing his praises? The second-year forward called Crawford the "one of the best in the NBA" at performing down the stretch. Not quite, but still a good......

Knicks 106, 76ers 99: If there's one team that has the Knicks beat in the turmoil department, it's the 76ers. They've traded star guard Allen Iverson and are about to buy out Chris Webber's contract. A team with such distractions proved no match for the Knicks. Eddy Curry had 20, and Stephon Marbury scored 24. The Knicks welcomed back Nate Robinson from his 10-game suspension and Quentin Richardson from back spasms. They've won three straight.......

Islanders 5, Rangers 3: After snapping a six-game losing streak against the Rangers on Tuesday, the Islanders are probalby hoping they can play their rivals more often. The last five games in this series -- including four this season -- have gone the Islanders' way. Tuesday's also ended a four-game Rangers winning streak, and it turned when Viktor Kozlov and Mike Skillinger scored goals within 27 seconds of each other. Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was......

Nets 91, Heat 81: Teams that score 21 straight points don't lose that often. The Nets used such a run in the third quarter to take down the Heat, who were playing without Dwyane Wade (wrist) and Shaquille O'Neal (knee). Jason Kidd, who described winning as "the best deodorant," had 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as he helped his squad snap a four-game losing skid. New Jersey scored on 10 of 11......

Islanders 2 Rangers 0: There is a big problem at MSG and this one has nothing to do with Isiah Thomas. The Rangers dropped their sixth-straight game Tuesday night with Rick DiPietro stopping all 28 shots he faced. 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......

Islanders 4, Rangers 3: Kevin Weekes didn't fill in too well for Henrik Lundqvist, and the Islanders handed the Rangers their third straight loss. The Rangers still lead the Atlantic Division, but the last three games have probably been their worst of the season. Weekes needs to take some of the blame; he's allowed 10 goals in the last 54 shots against him. But it's not all the goalie's fault. Teams that get outscored 19-6......

-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......

-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. Eddy Curry had another great game, scoring 30 points and David Lee added 14 points and 13 rebounds, but the Knicks defense was what......

-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. -Atlanta 5 Rangers 4 (OT): The Rangers had their chances, building a 3-1 lead in the second period, but Bobby Holik got his revenge......

-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 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......

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......

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......

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......

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. Appropriately, the......

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. While Weeeks was given a chance to warm up, the......

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. With Marbury out and Antonio Davis suspended, Larry Brown tried a new starting lineup. Jamal Crawford and Quentin Richardson were in the backcourt with Maurice......