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There are more than 30 banks working on Facebook’s huge stock offering, but yesterday it seemed like there was only one: JPMorgan Chase.

Led by veteran banker Jimmy Lee, JPMorgan rolled out the welcome mat for the social-media giant yesterday at its Midtown headquarters, where visiting executives, including CFO David Ebersman, were greeted by a Facebook flag and a giant blue welcome banner.

The fanfare continued inside on the 50th floor, where hats, windbreakers and coffee-cup sleeves sporting the Facebook logo awaited. Lee was later spotted leaving the building wearing a Facebook jacket emblazoned with his last name.

JPMorgan’s “jubilee,” as one banker described it, was part of Facebook’s Wall Street tour where bankers get to learn more about the company ahead of its IPO, scheduled for May 18.

Facebook execs yesterday visited three of their biggest bankers on the deal, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

“They wanted to get people psyched about the deal and to celebrate one of the most prestigious offerings of the year,” said one person familiar with JPMorgan’s thinking.

It’s not unusual for lead bankers to show their client love. Morgan Stanley bankers landed the IPO for streaming music company Pandora after wearing band T-shirts.

But JPMorgan’s splashy affair yesterday raised eyebrows as such displays are usually reserved for the bank leading the IPO — in this case, Morgan Stanley. JPMorgan and Goldman are also doing heavy lifting, while a number of other banks get a small piece of the action.

Executives at other banks described the pitch as “ostentatious” and “showy.”

“This isn’t our first rodeo,” sniffed one rival. “There’s no need for all the gimmicks.”

One Morgan Stanley exec wondered if JPMorgan “had balloons and a giant cake with Jimmy Lee inside ready to jump out.”

For the record, there was no cake.

Still, Facebook’s experience at JPMorgan stood in stark contrast to the company’s earlier 8 a.m. meeting with lead banker Morgan Stanley.

Facebook execs met on Morgan Stanley’s 6th-floor headquarters in Times Square for an hour before heading to JPMorgan. The last stop for the company was Goldman Sachs’ downtown offices at 200 West Street.

The sniping spilled over into other areas, with some suggesting that Morgan Stanley bankers showed some flash by flying first class to the Facebook meetings.

In response, one source said that bankers are expected to pay for their own tickets and aren’t billing those transportation costs back to Facebook.

mark.decambre@nypost.com

Facebook, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Jimmy Lee, David Ebersman

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The Pacers training staff wanted to make sure there were no other accidents involving fire extinguishers in Florida.

With Indiana playing Game 3 of their opening-round series in Orlando on Wednesday night, team staff put masking tape and a “Please do not hit” tag on the fire extinguisher leading to the team’s locker room.

The joke comes days after Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire punched a fire extinguisher after a loss in Miami that sidelined him for last night’s Game 3 and potentially the rest of that series.

Former Pacers forward and current FOX Sports Indiana analyst Austin Croshere took a photo of it and posted it on his Twitter account.

— Justin Terranova

fire extinguishers, fire extinguisher, Indiana, Austin Croshere, Amar’e Stoudemire, masking tape, FOX Sports Indiana analyst, Pacers online, team staff, Knicks, Justin Terranova

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Washington — Marian Gaborik scored at 14:41 of the third overtime, and the New York Rangers outlasted the Washington Capitals in a 2-1 victory early Thursday morning to take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Brad Richards was near the backboards before sending a pass in front to Gaborik, who ended the marathon by sliding the puck between the pads of rookie goaltender Braden Holtby.

It was Gaborik's first goal since New York's first playoff game against Ottawa, snapping an eight-game drought.

AP

New York Rangers right wing Marian Gaborik celebrates his winning goal against the Washington Capitals with teammates Carl Hagelin and Marc Staal.

Henrik Lundqvist had 45 saves for New York. Holtby stopped 47 shots for the Capitals.

Early in the third overtime, Washington killed a New York power play to keep the suspense going.

The game started at 7:40 p.m. and stretched into the next day, ending at 12:14 a.m. Thursday. There will be a two-day break before the teams meet for Game 4 on Saturday in Washington.

It was yet another low scoring, extremely tight game for the Capitals. Nine of Washington's 10 playoff games have been decided by one goal; the exception was New York's 3-1 win in the series opener.

John Carlson got a second-period goal for the Capitals, 2-3 in overtime this postseason. Ryan Callahan scored in the second period for New York, which improved to 1-2 in overtime during these playoffs.

Washington star Alex Ovechkin, who logged only 13½ minutes of ice time in the Capitals' 3-2 victory Monday in Game 2 in New York, finished with 20½ minutes in regulation. He had 6½ minutes in the first period, compared to 3½ in Game 2. After two periods, his 14:49 of ice time was the most on the team.

The difference was that in the previous game, Washington bolted to a 2-0 lead and didn't need the offense that Ovechkin is capable of providing. Despite his extended play in regulation, he was used very sparingly during overtime.

Rangers coach John Tortorella, in contrast, milked more than 40 minutes apiece out of defensemen Marc Staal and Ryan McDonagh before the game entered the third overtime.

Early in the first extra period, Washington's Troy Brouwer got a pass in front of the net and inexplicably shot the puck wide. At the 15-minute mark, Ovechkin gathered in a turnover by Anton Stralman, moved in with a bouncing puck and drilled a shot off the right post.

The goal horn sounded, and many in the sellout crowd stood and cheered. But a replay showed the puck never entered the net.

Washington successfully killed a New York power play in the final minutes of the first extra session.

Fatigue became a factor in the second overtime, as the teams combined for 13 shots.

The Rangers had a chance to take the lead late in regulation when Mike Knuble was called for goaltender interference at 14:25 of the third period, even though he received a nudge from both Brian Boyle and McDonagh as he crashed into Lundqvist. New York failed to get off a shot, and with 13 seconds left on the man advantage, Richards was called for tripping.

Washington didn't get off a shot on its power play, either.

The Capitals outshot New York 13-10 during a scoreless first period in which Washington had the lone power play. Lundqvist denied Marcus Johansson on a shot from the low end of the right circle with just over 13 minutes elapsed, and seconds later Ovechkin was leveled by Staal after unleashing a wrist shot from the left circle.

New York's first power play provided the game's initial goal. With Brooks Laich off for hooking, Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto took a shot from the left circle that hit Carlson and Washington's Matt Hendricks. Callahan was in position to sweep the bouncing puck into the right side of the net.

Washington killed 27 of 30 penalties in the postseason before Callahan's goal. It was bad omen for the Capitals, who were 5-1 in the playoffs when scoring first and 0-3 when falling behind 1-0.

Carlson tied it at 11:10, deftly skating from left to right around three Rangers in the New York zone before launching a wrist shot that whizzed past Lundqvist's right shoulder into the top of the net. Anton Stralman got caught up ice, and Carlson skated around Gaborik to get free.

Washington Capitals, New York, New York, Marian Gaborik, New York Rangers, Washington, Alex Ovechkin, Marc Staal.Henrik Lundqvist, Capitals, Capitals, Anton Stralman, York Rangers, Ryan Callahan, power play, overtime, overtime, overtime

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Rocco Rotondi’s preseason message was “the past is the past.” He may recycle that saying.

The Bryant baseball coach didn’t want his players thinking last year’s success – a Queens A West title and PSAL Class A quarterfinal berth – would mean anything this spring, and now he hopes it can be attributed in-season, too.

Despite lofty preseason expectations, the Owls are 5-4, good for fourth in their division, one of the bigger disappointments in the PSAL considering they returned virtually their entire club. The biggest issue, Rotondi said, has been a failure to do the little things, such as moving runners over, hitting the ball to the opposite field and executing defensively.

Christina Santucci

Bryant coach Rocco Rotondi hopes his team has turned a corner after a tough start.

“It’s frustrating because you go over these situations time and again and it’s like we were just shooting ourselves in the foot so many times,” he said. “As a coach, I felt lost.”

Rotondi thinks his pitching staff, led by Nick Alvarez, Adonis Lao and Darlyn Valdez, has done its job. Until recently, the lineup, so explosive last spring, was just not hitting. There might have been a sense of entitlement, the coach said, with a senior-heavy club that enjoyed success and figured the division was theirs. For some reason, Bryant has struggled to overcome deficits, letting one error or key strikeout snowball.

“I don’t think we could handle the pressure,” Alvarez said, alluding to the preseason hype.

Not all is lost. Bryant is just one game behind Newtown for second place and does meet division leader Adams twice, so it isn’t completely out of the question for the Astoria school to win the division crown. Plus, Tuesday’s come-from-behind, 8-2 win over Richmond Hill may have been a turning point. Bryant was struggling, down 2-1 before erupting for seven runs in the final two innings, including five in the seventh with two outs.

“I think we took a step in the right direction [on Monday]," Rotondi said. “Winning Monday, getting a few clutch hits, I think it relaxed us. Hopefully we can carry that momentum into Wednesday’s game against Francis Lewis. After Monday, we can finally breathe and play baseball.”

Alvarez said the win gave him and his teammate a jolt of confidence, even if Richmond Hill is only 1-8. For five innings, it was like so many of Bryant’s other frustrating losses, until the late uprising.

“We can be dangerous,” Rotondi said.

Cross star heading to D-II power: Julian Bilodeau was a third baseman playing in Bayside Little League. He had a cannon for an arm, but would always throw over the first baseman’s head. So his coaches moved him to the outfield.

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Rocco Rotondi, Nick Alvarez, Bryant baseball coach, PSAL, Darlyn Valdez, Rotondi, Adonis Lao, Francis Lewis, Bryant

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Mick Regan raced down the third-base line as the relay throw came in from left fielder Adam De La Cruz. If he scores, Fordham Prep caps off a seventh inning rally to beat St. Raymond. If he’s thrown out, both teams get to play extra innings in a brisk, cold sea breeze.

He slides just as the tag is applied. He’s out; at least that’s what Regan thought during the split second between the play and the umpire’s call.

“I felt like I was out, I thought the left fielder got me,” he said with an amazed look on his face. “I guess he didn’t.”

Despite protest from St. Ray’s catcher Leo Bravo, Regan was ruled safe. Nearly all of his Fordham Prep teammates, who were already hovering right around home plate, mobbed him in a scene straight out of Game 7 of the World Series and rightfully so.

An Rong Xu

The Fordham Prep team forms a celebratory dog pile after defeating St. Raymond.

Photos: Fordham Prep-St. Raymond

An Rong Xu

Fordham Prep's Vincent Capone fields the ball and looks to throw.

Photos: Fordham Prep-St. Raymond

Down a run going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Rams were able to come from behind, on the strength of Vinny Capone’s game-winning sacrifice fly, and defeat St. Ray’s 4-3 in CHSAA Class AA baseball Sunday night at Richmond County Bank Ballpark on Staten Island.

“It was a bang-bang play, it was all up to the umpire on that one,” Fordham Prep coach Pat Deane said. “It was a great throw and a great relay, but I thought he got under the tag and I guess the umpire did, too.”

Even though the Rams struggled mightily on offense against St. Ray’s hurler Anthony Colon throughout the game, the seventh inning proved different, even with the bottom of the lineup coming to the plate. Robbie Lynch reached on an error to lead off the frame and following a sac bunt by Kevin Flynn and a laced single to right by Regan, Rams star Andrew Velazquez came to the plate. A lengthy at-bat ended in him reaching first base on a catcher’s interference call, but by then, Colon had lost control of the strike zone. He walked Ryan Mahoney with the bases loaded to tie the game and then with Capone’s sac fly, he went from dominant to discouraged in a matter of minutes.

“Colon pitched really well. He hit his spots, but we just got to him in the seventh,” Capone said. “They are a great team, but we just wanted it that much more at the end.”

“We just stayed focused in the bottom of the seventh and we all have confidence in ourselves,” Regan added. “We never get down on ourselves, we support each other.”

Lost in the late-game heroics was the pitcher’s duel the first six innings proved to be. Colon did not give up a hit through four innings and through five, he had only given up one run on one hit. His final line of seven innings, three hits, and four runs was solid, but in the crucial last few innings, it was Sean McNamara winning the battle of the aces.

He went the distance, giving up just three runs on seven hits and striking out three and ultimately getting the victory despite giving up the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning.

“I felt like I was mixing inside and outside pretty well with my fastball and I was able to keep their hitters off balance,” McNamara said of his performance. “When I gave up that run in the seventh, I thought ‘oh no,’ but I knew my team had my back.”

With this victory, the Rams (8-0) have now lay claim to an eight-game winning streak and the distinction of snapping the seven-game win streak of St. Raymond (7-3). Highly contested matchups with dramatic finishes like these can make or break a season, and Deane sees this win as maybe their biggest of the year.

“These guys are so resilient and I’m so proud of their effort,” he said. “This is a signature win for us, definitely. We came back against a great team, and we realized that we can compete with some of the best teams in the city.”

Fordham Prep, St. Raymond, St. Raymond, Mick Regan, seventh inning, Anthony Colon, Vincent Capone, Richmond County Bank Ballpark

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MIAMI — Tonight’s auxiliary scoreboard could read: Flu 2, Tyson Chandler 0.

The Knicks center was a game-time decision for Game 1 Saturday against the Heat, and although Chandler played with the flu, he admitted to being dazed and weak. And not surprisingly, he performed as such in the Knicks’ 100-67 meltdown, prompting Baron Davis to say afterward, “He was fighting more than just them on the floor. He was fighting against a bad illness.”

Game 2 is tonight, but unfortunately for the Knicks, Chandler isn’t making much progress in his battle. He didn’t get on the floor for practice yesterday, and in fact, he didn’t even go to the arena and was receiving IV treatment.

“Honestly, I don’t think he’s any better [yesterday] than he was [Saturday],” Knicks interim coach Mike Woodson said, tabbing Chandler as a game-time call for tonight. “He might not play, guys.”

Considering Chandler played in Game 1 and considering how important he is, you’d imagine he’ll suit up for Game 2. But either way with the flu-ridden big man, the Knicks appear damned if they do and damned if they don’t. If Chandler’s still as sick tonight as he was in Game 1, there’s little reason to believe he’ll play well. That being said, if he sits out, his absence would be a killer.

“Definitely concerned about Tyson,” Davis said. “He’s a warrior, he’s our vocal leader and we need that from him. It was very inspiring for us to have him out there, but I just think that he was sick and he just gave us what he could.”

Perhaps it will help that Game 2 is a 7 p.m. start, giving Chandler more time to improve. But if he doesn’t, he’ll have to decide if playing is worth it. Consider after Game 1 — in which Chandler had zero points, three rebounds, seven turnovers and four fouls in 21 minutes — he admitted, “I thought maybe by just being out there would help my team morale. But I wasn’t able to do much.”

If Chandler either sits or plays limited minutes, Jared Jeffries could see more time as the backup. Or Amar’e Stoudemire could shift over to play center, and the Knicks could use Carmelo Anthony at power forward.

“He’s just barely hanging in there,” Woodson said, which isn’t exactly an uplifting description. “I don’t know what he’s going to feel like [today] so hopefully a miracle happens overnight and he’s ready to play.”

— Additional reporting by Mike Vaccaro.

mark.hale@nypost.com

Tyson Chandler, Knicks, Mike Woodson online, Baron Davis

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In the first quarter of 2012, a whopping 96,000 New York state mortgages were headed for foreclosure.

That number comes from nonprofit group NEDAP, which tracks the pre-foreclosure notices that mortgage servicers must send to homeowners 90 days before starting a foreclosure case in New York’s courts.

Locally, 10,175 notices were sent in Queens, 7,518 in Brooklyn, 3,576 in the Bronx, 3,255 in Staten Island and 1,697 in Manhattan through the first quarter of 2011.

By contrast, there were only 4,018 new foreclosure filings in NY state and 5,273 in the metro area, including Long Island, parts of Westchester and northern New Jersey, according to Realty Trac.

The number of foreclosure cases in the courts has fallen sharply since the robo-signing scandal and a fall 2010 requirement that banks’ attorneys verify the accuracy of their documents.

“Lenders have held off on foreclosure cases because they are unable to produce documentation of their right to foreclose,” said Josh Zinner, co-director of NEDAP. “Pre-foreclosure notices are the best indicator of the persistently high level of foreclosure risk in the city and state.”

This eye-popping preliminary first-quarter stat is likely to increase once the full numbers are in, said NEDAP officials. They expect the final figure to be roughly constant with the 108,000 notices statewide in the year-ago quarter.

These pre-foreclosure notices set in motion a gravy train of charges and fees.

They also allow servicers to start the foreclosure clock ticking, proceeding with a foreclosure even while working on a modification deal.

“There are lots of reasons to move to foreclosure, because as a servicer you have a lot of control over whether you decide to modify the loan or not,” said attorney Diane Thompson of the National Consumer Law Center.

A Housing and Urban Development spokesman insisted: “The restrictions placed on dual tracking will improve the process.”

foreclosure cases, NEDAP, foreclosure, foreclosure

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The iPod has had a nice run of it, but it’s no longer the gateway drug into the Apple ecosystem it once was. It is fast being replaced by one of the company’s newer devices: The iPad.

More than a quarter of current iPad owners say the tablet is the first Apple product they’ve purchased, according to a new survey from the NPD Group. “iPad sales are growing much faster than any other Apple product has this soon after launch,” says NPD’s Ben Arnold. “In fact, one-in-five Apple owner households has one — nearly equivalent to the number that own an Apple computer.”

So the iPad is Apple’s newest ambassador? Not all that big of a surprise considering how well the device has been selling. Apple sold 11.8 million iPads during its most recent quarter — that’s more than double the number it sold last year. More to the point, the newest model was only actually shipping during the last three weeks or so of the quarter. And, as Apple CEO Tim Cook noted during the company’s Tuesday earnings call, iPad supply was constrained at that time.

And sales to date have been fantastic.

“Just two years after we shipped the initial iPad, we’ve sold 67 million,” Cook said Tuesday. “To put that in some context, it took us 24 years to sell that many Macs, and five years for that many iPods, and over three years for that many iPhones, and we were extremely happy with the trajectory on all of those products.”

To read more, go to AllThingsD

Apple, Apple product, iPad owners, Ben Arnold, NPD Group, first Apple product

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The stage was set for Chris Falcone: A Friday night game under the lights at the College of Staten Island and his team's rival, Monsignor Farrell, in the opposite dugout.

He enjoyed the spotlight.

Falcone shined bright from the get go, striking out the first two batters he faced. The fast start set the tone and St. Joseph by the Sea never relented, cruising to an 11-0 shutout in CHSAA Class AA baseball.

Sea’s second win over Farrell this week was never in doubt, not with the stellar pitching it received from Falcone and a balanced hitting display.

William Thomas

St. Joseph's Chris Falcone went the distance in the Vikings' 11-0 win over Farrell on Friday.

William Thomas

St. Joseph's Joe Palmeri hi-fives Frank Sconzo as he scores a run.

“He was waiting for this game,” Sea coach Gordon Rugg said of Falcone. “He wanted this and he went out there and took it.”

Falcone certainly did. The Felician-bound lefty struck out a career high 13 and only gave up three hits. He recorded at least one strikeout in every inning and struck out the side in the fourth.

“I usually come out and have a rough first inning,” Falcone said. “But after I struck out the first two batters of the game I just settled in. I was able to get ahead of every batter with my curveball. I just felt great.”

Before Falcone even stepped foot on the mound, the Vikings gave him a lead. They jumped on Farrell’s starting pitcher Joe Liotta early, scoring three runs in the top of first as he lasted just 2-2/3, giving up four runs on six hits.

The first run came across as catcher Joe Santigate (3-4, 2 RBI) doubled with runners on first and third. Then with one out, left fielder Lou Mandia (2-4) hit a sacrifice fly, driving in the second run. Right fielder Nick Gonchar tripled in the third run.

That was enough for Falcone, but the Vikings bats remained hot despite the chilly temperature. They would go on to add one run in the third, four in the fourth, and then three more in the fifth.

“We had a good batting practice before the game,” Rugg laughed. “We just carried it into the game. This is a good team win all around.”

Falcone now has three CHSAA wins on the young season. His start against Iona Prep, a 1-0 victory in which he recorded 11 strikeouts, and his latest shutout of Farrell, show he’s on target.

“I worked really hard over the winter,” Falcone said. “I put on 15 pounds, and I just completely concentrated on pitching. I didn’t work on my hitting or anything else, just pitching.”

Falcone’s hard work appears to be paying off, and Sea (5-0) is enjoying his success. The team is rolling and Rugg can’t stop smiling.

“We just had a week where we beat Farrell twice,” Rugg beamed. “That’s a pretty good week. We’re playing good ball, and we’re going to try to carry that through.”

As for Monsignor Farrell (2-5), little went right against Falcone. The Lions mustered only three hits and did not have a player reach second base until the seventh. The Lions used three pitchers in the game, all of which were hit hard. They gave up 14 hits overall.

“It’s one of those games where we didn’t do anything well,” Farrell coach Bob Mulligan said. “We have to work harder and come back. We still have time to get redemption.”

Monsignor Farrell, Monsignor Farrell, Chris Falcone, Falcone, St. Joseph, College of Staten Island, the Vikings, Sea coach Gordon Rugg

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