Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Lefty wins his 40th PGA Tour event with his never-ending supply of tricks up his sleeve. What We Learned this week at Pebble Beach.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
AP
PITTSBURGH - Scoring three goals felt as good to Petr Sykora as he always believed it would. No longer having to hear that he lacked a hat trick might feel even better.
Sykora ended the longest streak in NHL history without a hat trick by a player who had at least two goals in a game and Pascal Dupuis also scored three times, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 9-2 rout of the New York Islanders on Thursday night.
Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist, and Sidney Crosby set up three goals in Pittsburgh’s first nine-goal game since beating the Flyers 9-4 on Feb. 7, 2001. Pittsburgh had lost its previous three. The Islanders dropped their season-high fifth in a row and allowed nine goals for the first time since Dec. 19, 2005 against Toronto.
Sykora previously had 38 games with two goals without getting a third, far surpassing the 28 games by Hall of Fame defenseman Larry Murphy, who played for the Penguins’ Stanley Cup-winning teams in 1991 and 1992.
Sykora long had a routine following two-goal games — he insisted it didn’t matter he had never scored three. Turns out, it did.
“I won’t have to talk about it (not scoring three) anymore. It is a relief. As much as I talked that it didn’t bother me, it did bother me, and now I feel pretty good,” said Sykora, who also had an assist during his sixth career four-point game, also his personal high.
It was the seventh time in Penguins history that two players had hat tricks in a game and the first since Mario Lemieux and Joey Mullen accomplished it April 9, 1993, against the Rangers.
Sykora put Pittsburgh ahead 3-1 by scoring 19 seconds after Mark Streit’s goal for the Islanders briefly cut Pittsburgh’s lead to one goal, then followed goals by Philippe Boucher and Malkin by scoring at 7:53 of the second on a power play to make it 6-1.
“This was one of those nights the puck kept coming to me,” Sykora said.
With his teammates pressing to get him the long-elusive third goal, Sykora looked to have scored it from the side of the net two minutes later. But the play was waved off and, afterward, Sykora said Ruslan Fedotenko probably would have been credited with the goal even if it counted.
Sykora finally got No. 3 at 15:42 of the second, also on a power play, when Crosby put a pass on his stick in the slot and Sykora wristed it by goalie Yann Danis, who replaced Joey MacDonald to begin the second period.
“You’re looking for a guy when he’s got two goals, especially with that score, you might force it more than you normally would,” Crosby said. “He knows where to go and I just put it on his stick.”
Sykora leaped into Crosby’s arms to celebrate, triggering a brief delay to clear the scores of hats that were tossed onto the ice. It was his 10th goal.
“I can’t say enough about Sid, he told me the play — he’s going to walk down the right side and he’s going to give it to me,” Sykora said. “Sid made that play.”
Dupuis’ third goal, and sixth of the season, came with 3:12 remaining as he scored Pittsburgh’s first and last goals.
“Syk, he waited a little longer than me, but I think we’ll both remember that game we both scored our first hat tricks,” said Dupuis, who previously had three games with two goals.
The one-sided game was welcomed by the Penguins, who were playing their third game in four nights and their seventh in 11 days. Their losing streak was their longest they lost four straight from Nov. 7-12, 2007.
Penguins rookie John Curry stopped 24 shots to get the victory in his second career start. His only two career victories in three NHL games are against the Islanders. Curry beat them in relief on Nov. 26.
New York’s losing streak is its longest in regulation this season, although it was 0-5-1 from Oct. 18-Nov. 1.
“I’ve got to be better, I’d like to have at least two of them back,” said MacDonald, who gave up four goals on 19 shots in the first period. “That got them going, and then poor (Danis) went in there and kind of got hung out to dry.”
Notes: Crosby has 11 goals and 30 assists in 23 games against the Islanders. ... New York allowed seven goals or more for the second time in seven games. ... Crosby has gone six games without a goal since scoring three against the Devils on Nov. 29. ... Boucher, injured for six games, scored his first with Pittsburgh.
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Check out highlights from the Rangers 3-2 win over the Capitals.
ProHockeyTalk headlines |
 | Video: NHL from NBC Sports |
 Ducks wing past Blue Jackets Anaheim soars over Columbus thanks to Perry’s hat trick in their 5-3 win |
 | Slideshow |
 | NHL All-Stars Take a look at the players who competed in Team Chara's 12-9 victory over Team Alfredsson. more photos |
| Slideshow |
 | more photos |
| Slideshow |
 | more photos |
| Slideshow |
 |
| Slideshow |
 | more photos |
 | Slideshow |
 |
The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
Paul Pierce has been around long enough to know what Rajon Rondo's performance can mean for the aging Boston Celtics.