LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony scored against and harassed and defended each other on Sunday in the reincarnation of a rivalry between the Knicks and the Heat amid a deeper Eastern Conference. With the outcome still in question, James looked to slice through the Knicks’ interior, a manageable, meager task in the past few seasons.

James had contorted past Anthony when Amar’e Stoudemire swooped in from the weak side, leapt and blocked James’s shot, which could have given Miami the lead with seven seconds left. Stoudemire’s effort paved the way for the Knicks’ 91-86 victory against Miami.

“I saw the play, I saw LeBron going to the basket and when I got the block, I knew we won the game,” said Stoudemire, who added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Anthony, who had a game-high 29 points and looked comfortable in his No. 7 jersey, said, “The weak-side defense, that’s something we were talking about the whole game and it finally happened on that last play.”

But this game also helped explain Chauncey Billups’s nickname: Mr. Big Shot.

Before Stoudemire’s block, Billups delivered two momentum-changing plays. Billups, the established All-Star, sat to the side, literally, while Anthony fielded the bulk of the questions during their introductory news conference last week. He did the same much of Sunday, while the Knicks overcame a 15-point deficit Read More…

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In his first game for the Senators on Saturday night in Toronto, Anderson stopped 47 shots in a 1-0 shootout win.

“Making good first impressions is key —getting out there and having a good start for a home crowd,” Anderson said. “Guys did their job tonight, scored some goals, made some big plays defensively and made my job real easy.”

It helped that the Panthers (25-28-7) weren’t very good. Chris Higgins had their lone goal as they lost for the fourth time in five games.

“That was ugly,” Panthers coach Peter DeBoer said. “Credit to Ottawa, they played hard and did what they had to do to beat us, but we didn’t put up much of a fight.”

Scott Clemmensen finished with 29 saves for Florida, which went into the game eight points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot but played like a team that has no playoff future.

“We had a real good week last week, we beat San Jose, beat Tampa in Tampa, played Detroit real tough and then to come in this week and we lose on the Island [to New York on Monday] and lose here with two poor efforts —outscored 10-2 —there’s no excuse for it,” DeBoer said.

“I’m sure the players will say it’s the trade deadline weighing on their mind, but I don’t buy it.”

Panthers defenceman Jack Skille departed midway through the game after he chased the puck into the corner in the Ottawa zone and went down following a hit. He had to be helped off the ice by teammates and DeBoer said he suffered a high ankle sprain to his right leg and “is probably out for a while.”

Ottawa defenceman Erik Karlsson was a late scratch because of an upper-body injury and Chris Neil left in the second with a lower-body injury and did not return. The status of both players will be updated Thursday.

The Senators beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 on the road Dec. 23, then came back from the Christmas break to beat the Penguins.

Since then, Scotiabank Place has not been very hospitable but Ottawa caught an early break when Butler’s pass attempt to Nick Foligno in front of the net went off Panthers defenceman Mike Weaver and past Clemmensen.

Ottawa made it 2-0 early in the second on a power play when Shannon, playing the point, ripped a shot from the top of the faceoff circle.

Anderson gave up his first goal as a Senator at 4:18 mark of the second when Higgins’ shot deflected in off Ottawa defenceman Chris Phillips.

However, Butler restored the two-goal advantage with a nice individual effort, walking out from the corner and firing a wrist shot in over Clemmensen’s shoulder.

“Buttsy’s played great. You can see the chemistry is building, you can see his confidence is building and he’s starting to shoot the puck real well,” said Spezza.

Ottawa added a couple of late goals when Michalek scored on a rebound and Spezza capped a 2-on-1 break by keeping the puck and scoring.

BOSTON (AP) – Steve Kampfer broke a tie with 1:14 left in Boston’s five-goal third period to help the Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 7-5 on Thursday night.

In a game that featured five lead changes, the Bruins rallied to beat the Flyers for their third straight victory. Boston is 7-1-3 in the last 11 games.

Brad Marchand tied it at 5 at 11:26 of the third and Kampfer gave the Bruins the lead for good when he slapped in a shot that went inside the right post past a stunned Brian Boucher. Gregory Campbell added an empty-net goal to cap the scoring.

After Mark Recchi and Michael Ryder gave Boston a 4-3 lead with goals in the first 1:48 of the third, Danny Briere and Sean O’Donnell scored in a 53-second span to give the Flyers a 5-4 lead with 12:19 left.

Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron added goals for Boston. Jeff Carter, Nikolay Zherdev and Scott Hartnell also scored for Philadelphia, which had its winning streak snapped at four.

NEW YORK (AP) – Wojtek Wolski scored his first goal as a Ranger, Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves and New York beat Vancouver to end the Canucks’ 17-game unbeaten streak in regulation time.

The NHL-leading Canucks hadn’t lost before overtime since Dec. 5. They were 14-0-3 before meeting the Rangers for the only time this season. Wolski, acquired this week from Phoenix for defenseman Michal Rozsival, knocked in a rebound on the power play at 7:18 of the second period.

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) – David Booth broke a tie with 4:12 left and Florida held on to beat Nashville, snapping the Predators’ winning streak at six games.

Rostislav Olesz had a goal and an assist for Florida, which has won two in a row following a three-game losing streak. Radek Dvorak also scored and Scott Clemmensen made 26 saves.

David Legwand had a goal and an assist for Nashville, and Colin Wilson also scored.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Cody McCormick scored the go-ahead goal, got into a fight and drew a key penalty in Buffalo’s victory over Carolina.

Drew Stafford and Nathan Gerbe also scored to help Buffalo improve to 5-1-1 in its past seven. Thomas Vanek had two assists and Ryan Miller made 27 saves.

Tuomo Ruutu and rookie Jeff Skinner, with 32 seconds remaining, scored for Carolina, which had a three-game winning streak snapped and lost in regulation for the first time in its past nine (6-1-2).

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – Shane Doan scored the first of four third-period goals in Phoenix’s fifth victory in its last six games.

Radim Vrbata, Taylor Pyatt, Lauri Korpikoski and Keith Yandle also scored, and Ilya Bryzgalov made 28 saves, allowing only Colby Armstrong’s goal with 3:52 left.

The Coyotes ended the Maple Leafs’ winning streak at four.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) – Robin Lehner made 20 saves in his first NHL start to help Ottawa snap a six-game winless streak.

The car slowly gained speed along the country road and Chris Neil pumped his legs as hard as he could in trying to keep up.

His mom was driving. He was just a boy. Now he’s in the Stanley Cup final, and the memories of how he got here will inspire him to be the best he can.

“I don’t think I’d be where I am today if it wasn’t for her,” says the Ottawa Senators forward. “She led the way for me.

“She’d wake me up in the morning and make sure I was out running. She’d have me chase the car or do whatever she had to do to get me to be quicker and faster. Whether it was hockey or baseball, she was dedicated in helping me be the best I could be. I can’t say enough about it.”  Read Full Story…

There was the frigid game time temperature of -8.6 degrees Celsius, which was even colder when factoring in the wind chill and which fell throughout the game. There was the ice, which was causing pucks to bounce more often than they would in the comfy confines of the Scotiabank Saddledome.

None of that mattered to the Flames, who didn’t let any of those obstacles stand in their way as they defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 in front of 41,022 fans who braved the elements for the historic game. The Flames have scrapped their way back into the playoff race thanks to their sensational 17-4-5 stretch since Dec. 23. They are 11-1-2 in their last 14 games and vaulted from 10th to sixth in the Western Conference with Sunday’s win.

The players will never forget the pageantry and spectacle of playing in an outdoor game — the massive number of fans, the pregame affair that included a flyover and ceremonial puck drop featuring legends Bob Gainey of the Canadiens and Lanny McDonald of the Flames. But at the end of the day, the two points might be what the players cherish most. The Flames have been getting contributions from just about everyone in their lineup the past two months, and it was more of the same Sunday.

Rene Bourque, who had just 4 goals in his past 28 games, scored twice. Anton Babchuk’s shorthanded goal midway through the second period was only his sixth in 44 games with the Flames. Alex Tanguay has been a consistent contributor all season, but his 16th goal of the season during a third-period power play was merely icing on the cake. Goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff was the undisputed first star of the game, making an outdoor game record 39 saves to become the first goalie to earn a shutout in either the Heritage or Winter Classic.

Bourque will be remembered as the most dominant skater on either team. Beyond his two goals, he had a career-high and outdoor game record 11 shots, shattering the previous record of 7 held by Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk and Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang. After Babchuk ripped a one-timer past Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (33 saves) midway through the second period, Bourque struck for a beauty of a goal 2:02 later when he controlled a bouncing puck and beat Price 1-on-1 with a quick backhand shot to put the Flames up 3-0.

Kiprusoff was at his best in the second period when the Flames blew the game open. He made 21 saves, the most ever in one period during an outdoor game. For some players like Flames forward Brendan Morrison, who grew up in British Columbia and only played in a handful of outdoor games as a child, Sunday’s chilly experience was a true rarity.

The Canadiens have now lost six of seven (1-4-2) but aren’t in any danger of slipping out of the top 8 in the Eastern Conference anytime soon. They are in sixth place and hold a nine-point lead on the ninth-place Buffalo Sabres. For the Flames, it was the best of all worlds. Two points, one special experience, and no problem playing on a mammoth stage with the eyes of Canada upon them.