HOCKEY

ISLANDERS DOWN DEVILS IN SHOOTOUT AGAIN UNIONDALE, N.Y.- Miroslav Satan and Trent Hunter beat Martin Brodeur in a shootout for the second time in six days, lifting the New York Islanders to a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils last night.

Satan matched Viktor Kozlov’s goal in the first round, and Hunter then gave the Islanders the lead. Rick DiPietro stopped Brian Gionta and Jamie Langenbrunner – New Jersey’s lone scorer in regulation – to give New York its fifth win against the Devils in seven games this season (5-1-1). Three were decided in shootouts.

Mark Parrish got the Islanders even at 1 early in the third period. The Devils fell to 16-4-3 since December 31 and have helped New York maintain its playoff hopes.

The Islanders are in 12 place in the Eastern Conference and could look to be sellers. New York has reached the postseason three straight years and viewed the four games before the deadline as a chance to prove it was still a contender.

They beat New Jersey twice and Philadelphia once. Their only loss was to lowly Washington on Monday night.

BASKETBALL

KNICKS TOP PACERS FOR 2ND STRAIGHT WIN INDIANAPOLIS – Jalen Rose scored 21 points and Jamal Crawford added 16 to help the New York Knicks win consecutive games for the first time in eight weeks, beating the Indiana Pacers 107-92 last night.

New York, which had lost 16 of its past 18 games and had the NBA’s second-worst record, overcame a horrible start, pulled within one point at halftime and took control with a flurry of 3-pointers at the start of the third quarter.

Rose and Quentin Richardson hit consecutive 3s as the Knicks went in front in the first minute of the third period. Richardson had another 3-pointer and Stephon Marbury hit two from long range before New York’s first miss. By that time, the Knicks’ lead was 64-57.The Pacers managed one more tie at 72 but never led the rest of the game.

For the game, New York hit 9-for-13 from behind the arc, including 8-for-10 in the second half.

Eddy Curry added 15 points for the Knicks, including five dunks. Stephen Jackson and Peja Stojakovic led Indiana with 20 points each.

BASEBALL

ORTIZ, BELTRE POWER DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PAST VENEZUELA KISSIMMEE, Fla.- David Ortiz and the Dominican Republic showed everyone in America what Latin baseball is all about – and just how good they are.

Ortiz and Adrian Beltre each homered twice, leading a powerful Dominican team to an 11-5 victory over Venezuela on Tuesday in their World Baseball Classic opener.

“The atmosphere is pretty much what every Latin has in his blood,” Ortiz said.

“Everybody has a lot of passion for baseball,” the Boston Red Sox star added. “We live it every day.”

HRS, SOLID PITCHING LEAD AMERICA TO WIN OVER MEXICO PHOENIX – One after another, the American pitchers were untouchable. A pair of big blows provided all the help they needed.

Jake Peavy and a parade of relievers combined on a four-hitter against a lineup loaded with major leaguers Tuesday, leading the United States to a 2-0 victory over Mexico in its World Baseball Classic debut.

Home runs by Derrek Lee and Chipper Jones were all that was necessary on offense.

“Today I felt proud,” Lee said. “I felt like the whole country was watching.”

FOOTBALL

OWNERS TO DECIDE WHETHER TO APPROVE UNION’S LABOR PROPOSAL GRAPEVINE, Texas – What was supposed to be the absolutely, positively final meeting to solve the NFL’s labor problems began yesterday, with owners trying to decide whether to accept the union’s latest proposal.

A decision on whether to extend the collective bargaining agreement was unlikely to come down until Wednesday, close to the latest deadline of 8 p.m. EST. It’ll take that long for the owners to resolve their differences over internal revenue sharing, the most divisive issue facing them. If they don’t get that straight, a deal in unlikely.

– Associated Press