Mickey Togs

Fifty-one games into the season, Juan Soto is sparking chants of “M-V-P!” at Yankee Stadium.

“Way too early,” Soto said after his second two-homer game of the homestand led the New York Yankees over the Seattle Mariners 7-3  and stopped New York’s first two-game losing streak in three weeks.

Soto drove a full-count sinker into the visitors’ bullpen in left in the third for a two-run homer and a 4-0 lead, a 414-foot drive off Bryce Miller that hit the back wall on a hop. Soto connected on another sinker on Miller’s first pitch of the sixth inning, a 369-foot shot into the left-field stands.

That prompted the “M-V-P!” chorus from the crowd of 40,224.

“I love when when the Bronx gets behind our guys,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously showing their appreciation for him.”

In his first season since the Yankees acquired him from San Diego, Soto is hitting .313 with 13 homers, 40 RBIs and a .978 OPS. The 25-year-old from the Dominica Republic repeatedly responds to the admiration and affection from the fans behind him in the right-field seats.

Chris Kreider had a third-period hat trick to help the New York Rangers erase a two-goal deficit and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 in Game 6 to advance to the Eastern Conference Final.

Kreider single-handedly erased the Hurricanes’ 3-1 lead entering the final period. The go-ahead score came when he got position on Jalen Chatfield at the top of the crease and tipped in Ryan Lindgren’s wraparound attempt to make it 4-3 with at the 15:41 mark.

That finally allowed the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers to put away the Hurricanes, who had won two straight after falling into a 3-0 hole in the best-of-7 series. The Hurricanes appeared on the verge of forcing a Game 7 for a pressure-packed finale, but couldn’t contain Kreider and the Rangers’ surge in the final 14 minutes.

The Eastern Conference Final is set.

The Rangers will face the Panthers, who are looking for a return trip to the Stanley Cup Final, after Florida finished off the Bruins in Game 6 of their series on Friday night with a 2-1 victory.

This series, which will start at Madison Square Garden pits the Metropolitan Division victors against the Atlantic Division winners.

It is one Stanley Cup-winning coach, Peter Laviolette, against the coach he replaced to get his ring 20 years ago, Paul Maurice.

It is one legendary Russian goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky, against another well on his way to all-time status, Igor Shesterkin.

The two sides have faced off just once before in the playoffs, with the Rangers beating Florida in five games in the 1997 Eastern Quarterfinals.

This, however, is a test befitting the Rangers as they look to defeat another franchise looking to call itself the new preeminent team in the Eastern Conference with the Lightning’s decline.

Hulk Hogan fans will have the chance to buy some special merchandise of their favorite wrestler as the WWE is planning to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Hulkamania.

Hogan is one of the biggest names in the history of the wrestling business, helping WWE take flight as the leading wrestling promotion in the world for the last several decades under Vince McMahon.

Hogan first held the WWE Title in 1984 and last won it in 2002. In addition to all of his accolades in WWE, he also helped spark the Monday Night Wars, the hottest period in the history of the business between WCW and WWE when he formed the NWO with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in the late 90s.

Hogan began to slow down his in-ring schedule in 2003, when he would work sparingly and later had a run in TNA Wrestling. Look for Hogan to make new TV appearances as the company celebrates the anniversary.

Jalen Brunson has found his footing. After a wayward Game 4 due to a lingering foot injury, Brunson stepped up in Game 5 for the Knicks to lead a 121-91 victory over the Pacers with 44 points, seven assists, four rebounds and a 51 percent field-goal percentage.

Brunson’s performance Tuesday made him the first player with five 40-point games in a playoff run since LeBron James in 2018 and marks the second most 40-plus point games in a single postseason in Knicks  playoff history. 

He now trails just behind Bernard King, who produced six 40-plus efforts games in the 1984 postseason. 

This was Brunson’s second 40-plus-point game of the series against the Pacers after producing 43 points in Game 1.

Brunson gave the Knicks a scare in leaving Game 2 with a foot injury, returning as a shell of himself to finish out the night, and struggled to do much the following game.

If Rangers fans were looking for another parallel to the team’s 1994 championship run, they got it on Thursday night.

The Rangers picked up another dramatic win over the Hurricanes in the second round of the playoffs for their seventh consecutive victory and are now 7-0 in the postseason, a feat they hadn’t accomplished since their last run to the Stanley Cup three decades ago. 

The magical run culminated in the Blueshirts’ first Stanley Cup championship in 54 years and also featured a Knicks run to the NBA finals, though the latter fell short of capturing a second championship that year for New York City.

That year the Rangers walloped the rival Islanders in a four-game sweep in the first round before they won the first three games of their second-round series with the Capitals. 

The similarities between the 1994 runs for both the Knicks and the Rangers have been hard to ignore over the past week as MSG has been the place to be with the first two games of each series taking place in Midtown Manhattan. 

Quiznos puts together a new globally inspired flavor mashup with the introduction of the new Big Fat Greek Sub.

The Big Fat Greek Sub features certified halal, seasoned gyro meat with tzatziki sauce with refreshing ingredients including a blend of marinated tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions, which is topped with lettuce and banana peppers served on your choice of artisan bread.

Quiznos partnered with Grecian Delight | Kronos to create the Big Fat Greek Sub – the brand’s first gyro-style recipe being offered at Quiznos.

Starting at $10, the new Big Fat Greek Sub is available now while supplies last at participating Quiznos locations across the US and Canada.

Two days after completing a four-game sweep against the Washington Capitals, the New York Rangers know who their second-round opponent will be in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Rangers will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Second Round. The start date for the series is not yet known.

The Hurricanes eliminated the New York Islanders with a 6-3 win in Game 5 down in Raleigh on Tuesday.

So, the stage is set for what should be a doozy of a series between the top two teams from the Metropolitan Division. The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers finished first in the Metro this season, setting franchise records for wins (55) and points (114). The Hurricanes were second in the division with 111 points, which was third most in the NHL behind the Blueshirts and Dallas Stars (113).

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, and the New York Rangers eliminated the Washington Capitals with a 4-2 win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Capital One Arena on Sunday.

New York will play either the Carolina Hurricanes or New York Islanders in the second round. The Hurricanes lead that best-of-7 series 3-1.

Kaapo Kakko, Vincent Trocheck and Jack Roslovic scored for the Rangers, who are the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan Division. Mika Zibanejad had two assists, and Igor Shesterkin made 23 saves.

“I just think that it says that we’re a good hockey team,” Trocheck said of the sweep. “We showed it every game. I think even tonight when we weren’t at our best, we still were able to do the little things right whenever we had a lead.” 

Martin Fehervary and Hendrix Lapierre scored for the Capitals, who were the second wild card from the East. Charlie Lindgren made 19 saves, and Alex Ovechkin was held without a point for the fourth straight game.

The Rangers were 3-for-4 on the power play. The Capitals were 0-for-2.