The third period of Game 6 on Friday night at UBS Arena should have been the ideal time for what’s come to be known as Islanders hockey. A club with a sturdy reputation was just 20 minutes away from sending its series with the Hurricanes to a decisive seventh game in Raleigh, leading 1-0 after two periods.

Instead,  the Hurricanes skated all over them. They outshot the Islanders 19-5, enjoyed an 11-1 advantage in high-danger scoring chances, and tied the game at 1-1 on Sebastian Aho’s goal midway through. Paul Stastny’s overtime goal six minutes into overtime ended the Islanders’ season.

They had lost a winnable series, blowing leads in both Game 2 and Game 6 that will haunt them for the entire off-season. 

And they might have lost their best chance of an extended playoff run with this core of players.

“One-goal leads in the playoffs are just not safe,” Mathew Barzal said in a dead-quiet locker room, repeating a mantra the Islanders learned in the first round to their chagrin.

One game after Julius Randle had been benched for the entire fourth quarter of Sunday’s win at Madison Square Garden, he re-injured his left ankle late in the second quarter and didn’t play in the second half.

And Tom Thibodeau’s gritty squad absorbed every punch once more and prevailed yet again.

Jalen Brunson finished with a team-high 23 points and Obi Toppin filled in ably for Randle in the second half as the Knicks dispatched the Cavs in five games, finishing them off without their leading scorer for the final two quarters of a series-sealing 106-95 victory Wednesday night at a silenced Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Thibodeau and the Knicks deservedly will make the franchise’s first trip to the second round of the playoffs since 2013 and only their second since 2000. 

RJ Barrett capped a strong final three games of the series with 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting, and Josh Hart started in place of Quentin Grimes again and registered 12 rebounds in 47 heartbeat minutes, including the entire second half.

The Green Bay Packers and New York Jets have agreed to a trade sending longtime Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the Big Apple.

The long-awaited trade will see the four-time NFL Most Valuable Player sent to the Jets along with the Packers’ 15th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, according to reports from ESPN and NFL Network.

The Packers will receive the Jets’ 13th overall pick in this month’s draft, as well as one of the Jets’ second-round picks and their 2024 first-round draft pick if Rodgers plays at least 65% of the Jets’ offensive plays this season.

Rodgers, 39, has spent his entire 18-season NFL career with the Packers, where he led the team to a 31-25 victory in Super Bowl XLV in 2011. 

The New York Knicks completed the MSG-sweep of Cleveland with a stout 102-93 win on Sunday.

Tom Thibodeau made an incredible decision that could very well be credited as the deciding and game-changing choice that lifted New York above the Cavs to wrap up the weekend: he benched Julius Randle for the whole fourth quarter.

Randle played 77 regular-season games this year. He sat through a fourth quarter just eight times, once because of his season-ending ankle injury against the Heat on March 29. Obi Toppin, his replacement on Sunday, played only 14 minutes in Games 1 and 2, 15 in G2, and, finally, 20 in G4 to send Cleveland home packing.

“We were searching, and we knew this game was going to be a challenge because of the late game on Friday, short turnaround, early start today, and have to find a way to win,” Thibodeau said. “That group got going, so at some point, you make a decision—probably around the five-minute mark, six-minute mark—and rode that out.”

And rode that out they did on the way to another W, the third in this series and the second-to-last before clinching a place in the Eastern Conference semi-finals for the first time since 2013.

Pete Alonso took it personally last October when the Mets were eliminated from the postseason with a loss to the Padres in the NL wild-card series.

Alonso says he took a “deep dive” during the offseason into examining where he could improve. The results have followed through the first three weeks of the regular season.

Alonso entered Friday night’s game against the Giants tied for the major league lead with nine homers.

“I just feel really good and in control right now, which is a really good feeling,” Alonso said. “I feel like I am more of a complete player. I feel like I am playing well on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively and I feel like I am running the bases well.”

The Mets had six victories in seven games to open this West Coast trip  as they arrived at Oracle Park on Friday, and Alonso’s hot bat ranked high on the list of reasons the team has succeeded in overcoming injuries within the starting rotation.

Ultimate Endless Shrimp is back at Red Lobster and is now available all day, every day for a limited time. This year’s lineup features new Parmesan-Bacon Shrimp Scampi (because everything tastes better with bacon) as well as Argentine Red Shrimp. And, back by popular demand, classic Shrimp Linguini Alfredo has returned to the roster of options.

Guests are invited to roll up their sleeves and indulge in a variety of craveable offerings by choosing two delicious shrimp preparations to start, and when they are gone, order additional shrimp dishes one at a time. Each Ultimate Endless Shrimp meal is accompanied by a choice of side and of course, unlimited Cheddar Bay Biscuits. Insider tip: avoid grabbing the extra biscuit to leave room for endless amounts of shrimp.

This year’s Ultimate Endless Shrimp menu features five enticing offerings to satisfy any shrimp craving. 

Gerrit Cole’s command of his pitches has him in total command of his opponents.

The Yankees ace continued his domination this season, firing a shutout with 10 strikeouts on the way to a 2-0 win over the Twins in The Bronx.

Cole allowed just three base runners all day — on two harmless singles and a walk — and recorded 27 outs on 109 pitches for his fourth career complete-game shutout.

“It’s just old school,” Cole said. “But we had our work cut out for us today. We were facing a great team and a great pitcher, so just more satisfied with the win.”

Cole shut down a Twins lineup that had exploded for 11 runs just three days earlier, allowing the Yankees (10-6) to earn a series split. He did so with a sharp fastball, spotting it just about wherever he wanted to and using it for seven of his strikeouts while mixing in a quality curveball, slider and changeup.

“When he’s able to do that, throw the fastball in all locations, it definitely opens up a lot of stuff,” catcher Jose Trevino said.

Cole has given up just three runs across his last four starts. 

Filip Chytil turned a career-best season into a contract extension with the Rangers. 

The Czech center signed a four-year deal with an average annual value of $4.438 million to remain a Blueshirt through the 2026-27 season, according to a source. 

With the deal, the Rangers solidified their top three centers for the foreseeable future. 

Chytil was set be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. His new contract covers the next two years of his RFA status. 

It is believed the Rangers are aiming to keep all of their young core. They will negotiate with K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere on their new contracts soon. 

The Big Ten has officially completed a new seven-year media rights agreement with FOX, CBS and NBC that will be the richest-ever television agreement for a college athletic league.

The new deal, which is expected to bring in more than $7 billion for the conference, will begin on July 1, 2023 and run through the end of the 2029-30 athletic year.

The Big Ten is projected to eventually distribute between $80 million and $100 million to all 16 of its member schools over the course of the television deal.

CBS, NBC and FOX are all set to carry future Big Ten football championship games as part of the deal, with FOX remaining the conference’s primary broadcast partner, having aired the football title game annually since its initial agreement in 2011.

FOX will broadcast the 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029 Big Ten football championship games — as well as the previously scheduled 2022 title game — and carry between 24-32 football games per season as part of the new deal.

CBS will broadcast the 2024 and 2028 Big Ten title games and broadcast 14-15 games annually.

NBC will broadcast the 2026 Big Ten football championship game and 14-16 games on its linear network, as well as eight annually on its Peacock streaming service.