On Friday the Penguins got real bad news.  Their second leading scorer Evgeni Malkin will miss the rest of the regular season with an upper body injury.  Sunday they went into Madison Garden and beat the New York Rangers 5-3.  It was the Penguins third win  in four games.  Conor Sheary, who was just recalled From Wilkes Barre-Scranton on Saturday, scored two goals.  Matt Cullen scored the game winner in the third period and,  Sidney Crosby added  an empty netter to seal the victory.  The Penguins host the New York Islanders Tuesday night, the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, and the Conference Leader Washington Capitols Sunday Evening.  They travel to Philadelphia Saturday to play the Flyers.

It is good news and bad news when it comes to local college basketball tournament action. First we have the good. Senior Guard  James Robinson made a steal and hit a running layoff with six seconds left to lift Pitt to a  72–71 win over Syracuse in the ACC Tournament.  It was the third win of the season against the Orange this season.  The win almost assures  them a berth in the NCAA tournament. They face the number one seed  North Carolina this afternoon. The bad news is the  Duquesne Dukes. They lost to last place LaSalle in the first round of the Atlantic Ten Tournament 88-73.  LaSalle was paced by Jordan Price. He had a near career high 36-points. The 14th seed Explorers face six seed Davidson. It was Duquesne’s 10th lost in 11 games

The Steelers  are not real big players in the first days of free agency.  They spent the first day signing one of their own.   Offensive guard  Ramon Foster agreed  to  a new three year deal.  They announced that they expect to work out an extension for the other offensive guard David DeCastro later this year.  The NFL Network reports the Steelers and free agent tight end Ladarius Green.  Green, who is  six foot six 237 pounds, spent four years with the San Diego Chargers. The deal is reported to be for four years  totaling 20-million dollars.  The Black and Gold can afford it.  They are a little over 11-million dollars under the salary cap.

Pedro has landed. He signed a one year deal with the Baltimore Orioles.  It is worth 5.75-million dollars with an additional 1.25 million in bonuses.  Alvarez was not offered a contract by the Pirates in December.  His role with Baltimore will be mostly as a designated hitter with  spot duty at first base.

2017 will be the 50th anniversary of both the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. To celebrate the teams will play an outside game at Heinz Field.  It will be Saturday February 18th.  It is part of the Coors Light Stadium series. The Winter Classic  is set for next year.  It will be  the Chicago Blackhawks vs St Louis Blues in Busch Stadium on Monday January 2nd.  These are two of the four outdoor games scheduled for the NHL next season.

NFL free agency begins at 4-pm Wednesday.  On Monday the Steelers signed two players.  Special team captain and safety Robert Golden and fourth wide receiver  Darius Heyword  Bey agreed to three year deals.  Off the field, wide receiver Antonio Brown announced on ESPN he will be contestant on ABC’s “Dancing with The Stars” The contest begins on March 21st.

After a disappointing loss at home to the lowly  Calgary Flames, The penguins routed the New Jersey Devils 6-1 Sunday in Newark.  Evgeni Malkin lead the way with two goals. Matt Cullen, Nick Bonino, Ryan Rust, and Scott Wilson also scored for the Pens. The Penguins travel to the Barclay Center Tuesday night to face the Islanders.

Behind two home runs from prospect Matt Duffy, the  Houston Astros split squad out lasted the Pirates in a spring training game Sunday. A.J. Reed had three hits.  Other minor league prospects Jake Marisnick and Tyler White also homered against five Pirates pitchers. Jeff Locke gets his second start of the spring as the Pirates play the Philadelphia Phillies in Bradenton this afternoon.

Penn State ended the regular season with a  86-79 double overtime win over Illinois at the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday. PSU  was paced by Shep Garner’s 22-points and Brandon Taylor’s 21 points and 11 rebounds.  With the win, Penn State has earned their first bye in the program history.  They will face Ohio State in the second round of the Big Ten tournament Thursday evening.  In women action.  George Washington  won their second in a row Atlantic 10 championship.  They edged Duquesne 63-60 behind Hannah Schaibe’s 17 points.  George Washington gets the the automatic bid to the NCAA  Women Tournament. The Lady Dukes have 27 wins. They will watch tonight to see if they get an at large  bid.  The Robert Morris Lady Colonials have advanced to the semi-finals of the NEC Tournament.  They beat Farleigh Dickenson Sunday 68-59.