The National Hockey League has taken a major step toward expanding into Texas, with Houston and Austin emerging as the leading candidates for a new franchise.

After having previously hired established head coaches, the Vegas Golden Knights this time stayed within the organization and promoted Ryan Craig on Wednesday from its American Hockey League affiliate in suburban Henderson.

Jordan Staal scored his second goal of the game at 6:32 of the third period to put the Carolina Hurricanes ahead for good in their 5-3 victory in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final over the Vegas Golden Knights.

Shea Theodore scored at 5:38 of double overtime, avoiding what could have been a potentially devastating loss for the Golden Knights after they blew a four-goal lead, and Vegas beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Saturday night to take a 2-1 series lead.

Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart faces mixed reactions in the Stanley Cup Final.

A failed coach's challenge by John Tortorella was a momentum-changing moment in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.

The status of Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb moving forward in the Stanley Cup Final is unclear after he took a puck to the face in Game 2.

Seth Jarvis scored on a power play in overtime after Carolina erased a deficit in regulation only to gave up a late tying goal, and the Hurricanes beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night to the series.

Tomas Hertl weaved his way toward the slot and broke a tie at 8:21 of the third period as the Golden Knights overcame a three-goal deficit Sunday night to beat Colorado 5-3 and move within a victory of their third Stanley Cup Final appearance in nine years.

A two-goal swing over a disputed no-goal call in the first period that resulted in a three-goal deficit could have doomed Vegas on Sunday.

Nikolaj Ehlers got loose up the center of the ice and popped the puck past Jakub Dobes at 3:29 of overtime to lift the Carolina Hurricanes past the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Saturday night to level the Eastern Conference Final at one game apiece.

Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev scored in a 2:07 span in the third period and the Vegas Golden Knights stunned the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Friday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Final.

Three-time U.S. Olympian Meghan Duggan is leaving her player developmental job with the NHL New Jersey Devils to become general manager of the PWHL’s expansion franchise in Hamilton, Ontario.

The Montreal Canadiens pounced for four first-period goals on slow-starting Carolina — coming off the longest postseason break in more than a century — and handed the Hurricanes their first loss of the playoffs with a 6-2 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Dylan Coghlan scored his first Stanley Cup playoff goal to get Vegas rolling, Carter Hart made 36 saves and the Golden Knights opened the Western Conference final by holding off the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Wednesday night.

The Vegas Golden Knights’ appeal to have their punishment reduced for breaking media access rules has been denied by the NHL and they will lose a second-round pick in the draft this year.

San Jose has landed a pro women’s hockey franchise with the PWHL completing its ambitious four-team expansion process with a first entry into California.

Alex Newhook scored his second Game 7-winning goal of the postseason, this time 11:22 into overtime in the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.

Captain Nick Suzuki and Jake Evans scored 68 seconds apart late in the second period, and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 to take a 3-2 lead in their second-round playoff series.

The Colorado Avalanche advanced to the Western Conference final after a thrilling comeback win against the Minnesota Wild.

Pavel Dorofeyev scored his second goal of the game at 4:10 of overtime to give Vegas a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night, moving the Golden Knights a victory away from advancing to the Western Conference final.

Ross Colton and Parker Kelly each scored their first goals of the postseason in the third period for Colorado as the Avalanche snapped back from a midseries lull and beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 in Game 4 to take a 3-1 lead in the second round of the NHL playoffs.

Alex Newhook had two goals, again providing Montreal with some much-needed secondary scoring, and the Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-1 to even their second-round playoff series at one game apiece.

Carolina and Colorado have put on a clinic for how to start the playoffs.

Bowen Byram and Ryan McLeod scored on consecutive power-play opportunities in reviving Buffalo’s anemic special-teams unit, and the Sabres defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.

Ivan Barbashev scored off a terrific pass from Pavel Dorofeyev with 4:58 left to put the Golden Knights ahead for good, and Vegas went on to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 on Monday night in the opener of their second-round series.

Taylor Hall slipped the puck past Dan Vladar at 18:54 of overtime to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Monday night, taking a 2-0 lead in their second-round series in the NHL playoffs.

Cale Makar scored twice in the third period after returning from an earlier injury and the Colorado Avalanche overcame blowing a three-goal lead to beat the Minnesota Wild 9-6 on Sunday night in a wacky Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.

Logan Stankoven scored twice to continue his postseason tear and the Carolina Hurricanes smothered the Philadelphia Flyers in a 3-0 victory Saturday night to open the second-round series.

Mitch Marner had two goals and an assist, Carter Hart made 21 saves and Vegas Golden Knights beat the Utah Mammoth 5-1 on Friday night in Game 6 to wrap up the first-round series.

Quinn Hughes led Minnesota to its first playoff series victory in 11 years, scoring twice in the Wild’s 5-2 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game 6 on Thursday night.

Cam York's wrist shot in overtime gives the Flyers a thrilling playoff series win over the Penguins.

Cam York scored in overtime, sending the Philadelphia Flyers to the second round for the first time in six years.

Alexandre Texier broke a tie 1:06 into the third period and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead in the first-round series.

The Minnesota Wild are going home with a chance to advance in the NHL playoffs for the first time since 2015.

David Pastrnak scored on a breakaway 9:14 into overtime, and the Boston Bruins avoided elimination with a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.

Shea Theodore scored on a snap shot from the high slot with 51.5 seconds left in overtime and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Utah Mammoth 5-4 after squandering a three-goal lead, tying their first-round playoff series at two games apiece.

The Pittsburgh Penguins kept their season alive, edging the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in Game 5 to send the best-of-seven series back to Philly.

Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang each scored goals, helping the Penguins avoid a first-round series sweep with a 4-2 win over the Flyers in Game 4 on Saturday night.

Matt Boldy scored on a deflection with 28.9 seconds left in the first overtime and the Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Saturday in Game 4 to tie the first-round NHL playoff series.

Bowen Byram scored a minute after Boston missed a penalty shot, and Alex Tuch broke a third-period tie to help Buffalo come from behind and beat the Bruins 3-1.

Wyatt Johnston scored on a power-play deflection at 12:10 of the second overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild early Thursday for a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.

Nicolas Roy scored on a rebound 7:44 into overtime and Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves, including a penalty shot, as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Los Angeles interim coach D.

The Carolina Hurricanes earned a double-overtime win against the Ottawa Senators on a night when they had an apparent winning goal overturned and a missed penalty shot in OT.

Jordan Martinook beat Linus Ullmark from the slot at 13:53 of the second overtime to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Monday night.

Dan Vladar stopped 27 shots as the Philadelphia Flyers shut out the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.

Mattias Samuelson scored with 3:24 left and Buffalo overcame a two-goal deficit in the final eight minutes to beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Sunday night in the Sabres’ first playoff game in 15 years.

Juraj Slafkovsky scored his third power-play goal 1:22 into overtime and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in Game 1 of their first-round series on Sunday night.

The Professional Women's Hockey League is enjoying a major post-Olympic boost that's no better reflected than with the New York Sirens.

Nathan MacKinnon scored the go-ahead goal with 35.2 seconds left to help Canada survive another scare at the Olympics, rallying to beat Finland 3-2 in the semifinals and advance to the men’s gold-medal game.

David O'Reilly, CEO of Howard Hughes Holdings, envisions a 'best of collection' for planned Texans training facility, team headquarters 'Toro District' in Bridgeland

Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland looks like a breakout star of the Milan Cortina Olympics after winning his third gold medal.

Major League Baseball will produce and distribute local broadcasts for six more teams this season.

The NHL has postponed the Columbus Blue Jackets’ home game against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night because of a major winter storm that created dangerous travel conditions across much of the United States.

An approaching major winter storm is prompting a shuffling of an NBA game and dozens of college basketball games this weekend.

Macklin Celebrini, the 19-year-old star for the San Jose Sharks, is heading to the Winter Olympics.

Spain will end 2025 as the top men’s team in the FIFA rankings after there were limited changes in the new standings.

Hockey at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics will be played on slightly shorter ice than NHL regulation size.

Construction on the main hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire with NHL players preparing to return to the Olympics for the first time in more than a decade.

A group led by Carolina Hurricanes owner Don Dundon has reached a tentative agreement with Paul Allen’s estate to buy the Trail Blazers and keep the team in Portland.

A Seattle Kraken ice hockey player and the team's mascot had a close call with a brown bear during a video shoot in Alaska.

The Stanley Cup is a little banged up, thanks to the Florida Panthers’ celebration of back-to-back titles.

The Florida Panthers repeated as Stanley Cup champions by beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 of the final.

Brad Marchand scored twice, Sam Bennett had his NHL playoff-leading 15th goal and the Florida Panthers moved to the verge of a second consecutive Stanley Cup title by beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Game 5 on Saturday night.

Pop superstar Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce were among the celebrities that flocked to Amerant Bank Arena to watch Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers.

Leon Draisaitl scored in overtime for the fourth time this playoffs, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Florida Panthers 5-4 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final and tie the series, erasing a three-goal deficit and bouncing back from allowing the tying goal in waning seconds of regulation.

There’s a giant, gold-outlined rat emblazoned on the hat that dangles in Brad Marchand’s locker.

The Edmonton Oilers took the ice for practice the day after the wheels came off in a 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

The Florida Panthers lead the Stanley Cup Final 2-1 after routing the Edmonton Oilers 6-1 in Game 3.

Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman says his right wrist got dislocated late in the Western Conference final when he was hit by Dallas' Mason Marchment.

The only times that Sergei Bobrovsky spent any time really reflecting on winning the Stanley Cup were the obvious moments.

Florida’s Aleksander Barkov thought the team meeting was over.

The Florida Panthers don’t play hockey every day.

This playoff run has felt different for Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid wasn’t keeping his hands off the Western Conference championship trophy this time.

Dallas Stars starting goalie Jake Oettinger was pulled after giving up two goals on the only two shots he faced in the first 7:09 of a must-win Game 5 in the Western Conference final against Edmonton.

Florida coach Paul Maurice did not shake hands with the Carolina Hurricanes when the Eastern Conference final ended.

Carter Verhaeghe broke a tie off a feed from Aleksander Barkov with 7:39 left and the defending champion Florida Panthers advanced to their third straight Stanley Cup Final, beating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 on Wednesday night in Game 5.

The Carolina Hurricanes switched starting goalies again for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, going back to Frederik Andersen for Monday night’s win-or-else game against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

Frederik Andersen returned to the net and stopped 20 shots for his fifth career playoff shutout, Logan Stankoven got the only goal Carolina needed and the Hurricanes won their first Eastern Conference finals game in nearly 20 years by beating the Florida Panthers 3-0 on Monday night to stave off elimination.

Niko Mikkola and Aleksander Barkov each scored twice, and the Florida Panthers scored five goals in a nine-minute span of the third period to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 on Saturday night and move one win from a third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Carolina Hurricanes switched goalies for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, starting Pyotr Kochetkov in net against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

Sam Reinhart will not play for the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against Carolina on Saturday night because of a left knee injury, one that happened Thursday when he was skated into by the Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho.

Connor Brown scored after getting hit in the mouth by a skate, Stuart Skinner made 25 saves for his third shutout of the postseason and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Dallas Stars 3-0 in Game 2 on Friday night to even the Western Conference final.

The Carolina Hurricanes have found themselves in the same dire position in the conference-final rematch against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

Sam Bennett scored one of his two goals in Florida’s three-goal first period, Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves and the Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-0 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference final.

It's really not as bad as it sounds for the Dallas Stars that Mikko Rantanen has gone four playoff games in a row without scoring a goal.

The Dallas Stars aren’t getting shut out on the power play in the Western Conference final against Edmonton this time.

Carolina Hurricanes forward Taylor Hall and Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones have gone from playing for a rebuilding team in Chicago to battling in the Eastern Conference final.

Miro Heiskanen, Mikael Granlund and Matt Duchene scored power-play goals in a 5:26 span early in the third period and the Dallas Stars opened their Western Conference final rematch against the Edmonton Oilers with a 6-3 victory Wednesday night.

The Florida Panthers showed their championship mettle from last year's run to the Stanley Cup by taking control early in their 5-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes to open the Eastern Conference final Tuesday night.

Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad scored two tone-setting first-period goals while Sergei Bobrovsky remained strong in net as the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 in Tuesday night’s opener of their Eastern Conference final series.

The NHL’s playoff final four has a very familiar feel.

Thomas Harley scored on a power play 1:33 into overtime and the Dallas Stars advanced to the Western Conference final for the third season in a row, beating the top-seeded Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in Game 6 on Saturday night.

Auston Matthews got his first goal of the series to break a scoreless tie in the third period, Joseph Woll stopped 22 shots, and the Toronto Maple Leafs kept their season alive by beating the Florida Panthers 2-0 in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Friday night.

The Carolina Hurricanes are known around the NHL for shooting the puck on net from every angle and piling up the shots.

Andrei Svechnikov scored the go-ahead goal with just under two minutes left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 3-1 in Game 5 on Thursday night, winning the second-round series and advancing to the Eastern Conference final for a second time in three years.

The Oilers have been the team that didn’t seem bothered by giving up four goals because they were more than capable of scoring at least five.

Kasperi Kapanen scored on a scramble in front of the net at 7:14 of overtime, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vegas Golden Knights 1-0 in Game 5 on Wednesday night to advance to the Western Conference final for the second year in a row.