PHOENIX (AP) — The NHL has approved the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes to a group of Canadian-led investors, but the deal is contingent on reaching a lease agreement with the city of Glendale, two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The NHL agreed to sell the team to Renaissance Sports & Entertainment, a group headed by George Gosbee, Anthony LeBlanc and Daryl Jones, according to the people, who spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because there had been no official announcement. LeBlanc and some of this group's partners, among them Daryl Jones, were part of a previous effort to buy the team under the name Ice Edge, Inc. Gosbee, a banker and financier, is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Alberta-based AltaCorp Capital Inc. Glendale owns Jobing.com Arena, where the Coyotes play and the city has spent tens of millions of dollars to help cover the franchise's operating losses under the NHL's nearly four-year ownership of the team.

James Neal recorded his first playoff hat trick and Pittsburgh reached the conference finals for the first time since 2009 with a 6-2 dismantling of Ottawa on Friday night, winning the best-of-seven series in five games. [...] it's wafting through the Pittsburgh dressing room after the Penguins dominated one of the NHL's best defensive teams, rolling up 22 goals in five games, including 12 in the last five periods. The NHL's longest-tenured captain said the Senators "probably" couldn't rally to win the series after a 7-3 home loss in Game 4 on Wednesday night. Sluggish from the opening faceoff, the Senators slogged through the game's first 10 minutes, long enough for Morrow to pay immediate dividends in his return to the lineup. Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke beat a Senator to a loose puck along the halfboards then zipped a cross-ice pass to defenseman Mark Eaton. Michalek briefly made it competitive with a beautiful deke around Vokoun to pull the Senators to 3-1 with 3:48 left in the second but Malkin scored his fourth goal of the playoffs on a breakaway just before the intermission to restore the three-goal lead. A pair of sizzling wrist shots in the third period gave him his first career playoff hat trick and sent the Penguins roaring into hockey's final four. Pittsburgh went 1 for 3 on the power play and improved to 6-0 when it outscores an opponent on special teams in the postseason. ...

Swarming the Senators from the opening faceoff, Pittsburgh roared to a 6-2 victory Friday night in Game 5 of the Eastern conference semifinals to take the best-of-seven series 4-1. James Neal picked up his first postseason hat trick as the Penguins capped a five-game onslaught against one of the NHL's best defensive teams to stroll into the conference finals. Outskated, outshot and outworked from the opening faceoff, the Senators put up little resistance as Pittsburgh moved on to the conference finals for the first time since 2009, when the franchise won its third Stanley Cup. The NHL's longest-tenured captain said the Senators "probably" couldn't rally to win the series after a 7-3 home loss in Game 4 on Wednesday night. Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke beat a Senator to a loose puck along the halfboards then zipped a cross-ice pass to defenseman Mark Eaton. Michalek briefly made it competitive with a beautiful deke around Vokoun to pull the Senators to 3-1 with 3:48 left in the second but Malkin scored his fourth goal of the playoffs on a breakaway just before the intermission to restore the three-goal lead. A pair of sizzling wrist shots in the third period gave him his first career playoff hat trick and sent the Penguins surging into hockey's final four. Pittsburgh went 1 for 3 on the power play and improved to 6-0 when it outscores an opponent on special teams in the postseason. ...

Quick made 24 saves in his seventh career playoff shutout, and the Kings moved to the brink of their second straight trip to the Western Conference finals with a 3-0 victory Thursday night. Anze Kopitar and Slava Voynov scored, and Jeff Carter added an empty-net goal as the Kings won their 13th consecutive home game in emphatic fashion, claiming a 3-2 series lead. The Conn Smythe Trophy winner shut out the Sharks for the second time in the series, yet Quick scoffed at any suggestion he's responsible for the Kings' abrupt reversal of this series' momentum after the Sharks appeared to take control in San Jose. Quick has three shutouts in this postseason alone, adding to his club record of seven playoff shutouts, yet nobody thought this latest zero was his best number of the postseason. The Sharks lamented their lackluster effort, particularly from the star players whose dominance had allowed San Jose to even the series with two straight wins and three straight games of largely superior play. Antti Niemi stopped 26 shots for the Sharks, who have played more than 96 minutes without a goal since they appeared to be seizing the series midway through Game 4. Niemi made a spectacular save on Carter's wraparound chance late in the second period, but that play led to a long stretch of uninterrupted pressure and the go-ahead goal. Lewis, who scored the winning power-play goal late in Game 2, got the puck to Voynov for a long shot through traffic immediately after a power play ended, and the Siberian defenseman matched Carter for the team lead at the time with his fourth goal of the playoffs. The power play resulted from a goalie interference penalty against TJ Galiardi, who drew the Kings' ire Wednesday by claiming Quick embellishes contact with opponents to draw undeserved penalties.

NEW YORK (AP) — During a sluggish first period, a difficult second period, and a tense third period, there were few signs the New York Rangers would be able to hold off the Boston Bruins and extend their season for at least one more game. The Rangers played poorly in the opening 20 minutes, but managed to get to intermission in a scoreless tie. The Bruins made the most of another power play and took a 3-2 lead just 2 seconds after a goalie interference penalty against Ryan McDonagh expired. Boyle took a pass from Stepan in the slot and snapped a drive that nestled into the middle of the net at 10:00 after the Bruins were caught with too many men on the ice. Tortorella benched star center Brad Richards, who had just one goal in the playoffs, and rugged forward Arron Asham in favor of seldom-used Kris Newbury and Micheal Haley. Veteran Roman Hamrlik also played for the first time in these playoffs in place of injured defenseman Anton Stralman, who left Game 3 in the second period. The Bruins used their power play to grab control in the second period, connecting twice in a span of 3:02 to take a 2-0 lead. Del Zotto took an interference penalty 1:25 after Boston took the lead, and Krug made the Rangers pay again. Krug, a rookie defenseman who made his NHL postseason debut in the series opener, fired a slap shot from the Stanley Cup logo in the Rangers' zone that sailed past Lundqvist and into the top right corner at 7:41. Krug has scored in three of the four games he has played in this series, and his goal gave Boston as many power-play tallies at Madison Square Garden in this playoff year as the host Rangers had mustered to that point.

Jakub Kindl scored on a power play in the second period, Daniel Cleary had an empty-net goal and Jimmy Howard made 28 saves to help the Detroit Red Wings earn a 2-0 win Thursday night that puts the Blackhawks on the brink of elimination. After losing Game 1, the seventh-seeded Red Wings have surged into control of the second round series by handing the Blackhawks their first three-game losing streak of the year. Crawford did a solid job in his net, but he couldn't kick his right leg out quick enough to stop Kindl's shot on a power play midway through the second period and he was on the bench in favor of an extra skater when Cleary sealed the victory in the final minute. Chicago had killed its first 30 penalties of the playoffs and matched the 2001 St. Louis Blues' feat of playing eight postseason games without giving up a power-play goal, the longest such streak since 1988. Kindl scored his first goal of his first postseason to help the rapidly improving Red Wings pull within a win of their first trip to the Western Conference finals since 2009 when they got past Chicago and went on to lose Game 7 in a Stanley Cup finals rematch against Pittsburgh. Toews has gone 10 postseason games without a goal — dating to last year's playoffs — in what is the longest scoring skid for a former Conn Smythe winner since Claude Lemieux went 20 games without a goal from 2000 through 2009, according to STATS. NOTES: Since winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, Chicago has lost in the first round twice and is a loss away from a second-round exit. ......

DETROIT (AP) — Jimmy Howard kept Jonathan Toews in his misery, making three saves against the struggling star to help the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0 on Thursday night in Game 4 of the second round series to put the NHL's best team during the regular season on the brink of elimination. When Howard wasn't using his glove or pads to deny Toews, Detroit's skaters were rattling him and his teammates with a physical presence that is clearly making them uncomfortable. Chicago's Corey Crawford did a solid job in his net, but he couldn't kick his right leg out quick enough to stop Jakub Kindl's shot on a power play midway through the second period and he was on the bench in favor of an extra skater when Daniel Cleary sealed the victory in the final minute. Chicago had killed its first 30 penalties of the playoffs and matched the 2001 St. Louis Blues' feat of playing eight postseason games without giving up a power-play goal, the longest such streak since 1988. Kindl scored his first goal of his first postseason, keeping up a trend that has helped the rapidly improving Red Wings pull within a win of their first trip to the Western Conference finals since 2009 when they got past Chicago and went on to lose Game 7 in a Stanley Cup finals rematch against Pittsburgh. Detroit D Danny DeKeyser, who broke his right thumb in the first round and was ruled out for the playoffs, said he is holding out hope that he can come back if his teammates can advance. ... Since winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, Chicago has lost in the first round twice and is a loss away from a second-round exit. ......

[...] Joe Sakic was given more responsibility in the front office. Colorado reached an agreement in principle Thursday with Roy to lead the team and also serve as vice president of hockey operations. Roy will join forces with Sakic, who was recently promoted to executive vice president of hockey operations. The Avalanche won two Stanley Cup titles with the duo on the ice and the organization is hoping they can help turn around a struggling franchise. Following the season, the Avalanche shook up their front office, naming Kroenke as their team president as he took over for longtime executive Pierre Lacroix, who was instrumental in assembling the squads that won championships in 1996 and 2001. [...] he turned to someone he knows quite well. Roy had his number retired by the Avs a decade ago and a banner to commemorate the achievement now hangs from the arena's rafters, alongside those of Peter Forsberg (21), Ray Bourque (77) and his new partner in turning around this franchise, Sakic (19).

Kreider deftly steered in a pass from Rick Nash 7:03 into overtime, and the Rangers stayed alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. Kreider, who made his NHL debut in last year's playoffs, has six career postseason goals in just 25 games. Derek Stepan and Brian Boyle scored tying goals in the third period for the Rangers, who even found success on the power play. Boston got second-period goals from Nathan Horton and rising star Torey Krug to build an early lead. Rask went behind the net to slow the puck down for defenseman Zdeno Chara, but Stepan forced a turnover when he surprised Chara from behind. The Bruins made the most of another power play and took a 3-2 lead just 2 seconds after a goalie interference penalty against Ryan McDonagh expired. Boyle took a pass from Stepan in the slot and snapped a drive that nestled into the middle of the net at 10:00 after the Bruins were caught with too many men on the ice. Veteran Roman Hamrlik also played for the first time in these playoffs in place of injured defenseman Anton Stralman, who left Game 3 in the second period. The Bruins used their power play to grab control in the second period, connecting twice in a span of 3:02 to take a 2-0 lead. Krug, a rookie defenseman who made his NHL postseason debut in the series opener, fired a slap shot from the Stanley Cup logo in the Rangers' zone that sailed past Lundqvist and into the top right corner at 7:41. Krug has scored in three of the four games he has played in this series, and his goal gave Boston as many power-play tallies at Madison Square Garden in this playoff year as the host Rangers had mustered to that point.

OTTAWA (AP) — Sidney Crosby was careful not to get too far ahead of himself after helping the Pittsburgh Penguins rout the Ottawa Senators for a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Senators, coming off a double-overtime victory Sunday night in Game 3, opened the scoring on Michalek's short-handed goal at 2:29 of the first period. With defenseman Sergei Gonchar in the penalty box, Alfredsson fed the puck up the middle to a streaking Michalek, who broke through the defense and beat Vokoun low on the glove side for Ottawa's second short-handed goal of the series. Neal tied it with 5:04 left in the period, picking up the loose puck in the slot and putting it in the back of the net. Neal started the third-period flurry with a power-play goal at 1:59. Alfredsson finished the scoring with a late power-play goal for his 100th career playoff point.