NHL

The NHL has stripped the Vegas Golden Knights of their second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and fined head coach John Tortorella $100,000 after what the league described as “flagrant violations” of postseason media access rules following the club’s Western Conference semifinal victory over the Anaheim Ducks. The punishment stems from Vegas’ actions after its 5-1 win in Game 6 on Thursday night, when the organization declined to open the locker room to reporters and Tortore

DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche looked finished midway through Game 5 after falling behind by three goals against the Minnesota Wild. Instead, they delivered one of the franchise’s most dramatic playoff comebacks in recent memory. Defenseman Brett Kulak scored 3:52 into overtime Wednesday night, lifting Colorado to a 4-3 victory at Ball Arena and sending the Avalanche to the Western Conference final for the eighth time since the franchise moved to Denver. Kulak buried a feed

DENVER — What looked like a matchup defined by defense quickly turned into something nobody expected. Cale Makar returned from an early injury scare and scored twice in the third period as the Colorado Avalanche survived a chaotic, high-scoring battle to defeat the Minnesota Wild 9–6 in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Sunday night. “I don’t think you could draw that one up,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “There’s no real explanation for a game like that.” Aft