NHL teams have plenty of coaching positions to fill this offseason, and it appears that one might be getting close.

ESPN reported Thursday that the New York Rangers are in advanced contract talks with Mike Sullivan, the two-time Stanley Cup winner who parted ways with the Pittsburgh Penguins this week.

The Rangers had fired Peter Laviolette after the season. The Seattle Kraken’s Dan Bylsma and Anaheim Ducks’ Greg Cronin also were fired. The Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks made coaching changes during the season and will have to decide on a permanent coach.

The Vancouver Canucks have to look for a coach after Rick Tocchet turned down the team’s contract offer this week and chose to pursue other opportunities. The Penguins also have an opening with Sullivan out.

That leaves eight openings before the Rangers make anything official. USA TODAY Sports ranks the destinations from most to least attractive:

1. New York Rangers

Reason for opening: Laviolette was fired in April after a 29-point drop in the standings and a missed playoff berth.

Recent history: They missed the playoffs this season, ending a three-year run.

Advantages: The Rangers had the league’s best record in 2023-24 and reached the Eastern Conference final. Igor Shesterkin is one of the league’s top goaltenders. J.T. Miller’s arrival in a trade provided a spark and there are plenty of top-end players. Chris Drury just signed a contract extension, so you know who your general manager will be.

Disadvantages: Drury’s last two coaches were fired after two seasons. He moved out several players from the 2023-24 team. Many players underachieved this season. The defensive play needs work. The Rangers allow too many high-danger chances and rely too much on Shesterkin for their success.

2. Anaheim Ducks

Reason for opening: Cronin was fired after two seasons.

Recent history: They haven’t made the playoffs for seven seasons.

Advantages: The team jumped 21 points in the standings so it’s on the rise. Forward Troy Terry and goalie Lukas Dostal are solid. The Ducks have promising younger players in Mason McTavish, Jackson LaCombe, Cutter Gauthier and Leo Carlsson. GM Pat Verbeek said he will be aggressive in free agency.

Disadvantages: Even with the improvement, the Ducks finished 16 points off a playoff spot. The Western Conference is tough. The Ducks finished last in the league on the power play and in the bottom five in goals, penalty killing and 5-on-5 play. Trevor Zegras has problems staying healthy.

3. Pittsburgh Penguins

Reason for opening: The team and Sullivan agreed to part ways after a third consecutive season out of the playoffs.

Recent history: They have missed the playoffs the last three seasons.

Advantages: You get to coach Sidney Crosby, who continues to thrive and broke Wayne Gretzky’s record with a 20th season averaging at least a point per game. He’s signed for two more seasons. Fellow core member Evgeni Malkin has another year left on his contract and Kris Letang has three. Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust topped 30 goals this season.

Disadvantages: There’s not a lot of production from the bottom six forward group. Goaltender Tristan Jarry’s inconsistency led to time in the American Hockey League. The team ranked 29th in the league in five-on-five goal differential and had the fourth-worst goals-against average.

4. Boston Bruins

Reason for opening: Jim Montgomery was fired in November and Joe Sacco finished up the season as interim coach.

Recent history: The Bruins’ eight-year playoff streak ended this season.

Advantages: David Pastrnak is an elite scorer. Morgan Geekie had a breakout season. The team will be better when injured defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm return. GM Don Sweeney has cap room to make free agency moves.

Disadvantages: Core players were dealt at the deadline. As of now, the center depth needs improvement. Goalie Jeremy Swayman is coming off a down season. Sweeney, whose free agency moves for Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov didn’t pan out, has a year left on his contract.

5. Chicago Blackhawks

Reason for opening: Luke Richardson was fired in December. Anders Sorensen is the interim coach.

Recent history: They have one playoff appearance in the last eight seasons, none since 2020.

Advantages: Connor Bedard is a generational player and will keep getting better. Ryan Donato scored 31 goals this season. Trade deadline acquisition Spencer Knight is a potential franchise goalie. The team will draft high again in 2025.

Disadvantages: The Blackhawks traded away a lot of veterans before winning the 2023 Bedard draft lottery and lack depth. Even with promising young players, this is a long rebuild. Donato is a free agent.

6. Philadelphia Flyers

Reason for opening: John Tortorella was fired in March and Brad Shaw was named interim coach.

Recent history: They last made the playoffs in 2020.

Advantages: Young forward Matvei Michkov is an exciting, skilled player. Forward Travis Konecny and defenseman Travis Sanheim made Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Disadvantages: They finished last in the conference so there’s a long way to go. Their goaltending is inconsistent.

7. Vancouver Canucks

Reason for opening: Tocchet turned down a new contract offer.

Recent history: They missed the playoffs this season and have made it once in the past five years.

Advantage: They won the Pacific Division title in 2023-24. Defenseman Quinn Hughes won the Norris Trophy last year and is a finalist this season.

Disadvantage: This is far from the team that won the division title. Miller was traded to New York after a dispute with Elias Pettersson. Pettersson needs to find his game again. Goaltender Thatcher Demko has injury issues. Brock Boeser is expected to leave in free agency. And according to team president Jim Rutherford, Hughes wants to play with his brothers: New Jersey’s Jack and Luke. His contract runs out in 2026.

8. Seattle Kraken

Reason for opening: Bylsma was fired in April after one season.

Recent history: They have made the playoffs once in four seasons of existence.

Advantage: Brandon Montour and Vince Dunn bring offense from the blue line. The team can build around youngsters Matty Beniers and Shane Wright. Kaapo Kakko looked good after his arrival in a trade. Joey Daccord is solid in net.

Disadvantage: Unlike the Golden Knights, this recent expansion team has had little success, outside its second season. The Kraken’s team defense ranks in the bottom third of the league. Philipp Grubauer has struggled in net.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs’ lineup for Thursday’s Game 6 had star William Nylander listed as a scratch and brother Alex Nylander listed in the lineup.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, if the game had started before the fix had been made, William Nylander could have been pulled from the lineup. It would have been another example of the bad luck that has happened to the Maple Leafs since they last won the Stanley Cup in 1967.

But in a sign that the Maple Leafs’ luck might be changing, the mistake was caught, the right Nylander dressed and he carried Toronto to a clinching 4-2 win.

William Nylander had a power-play assist and a goal to give Toronto a 2-0 lead. Ottawa eventually tied the game when David Perron’s bad-angle shot banked in off the back of goalie Anthony Stolarz’s mask. But Max Pacioretty broke the tie and Nylander put the game away with an empty-net goal.

It was the Maple Leafs’ second playoff series win since 2004. They’ll face the Florida Panthers in the second round.

Golden Knights, Oilers advance

The Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers will face each other in the second round after winning in Game 6 of their respective series.

The Golden Knights got a goal and assist each from Jack Eichel and Mark Stone to down the Minnesota Wild 3-2. The game marked goalie Marc-Andre Fleury’s farewell.

The Oilers picked up their fourth series win in four seasons against the Kings, who once led the series 2-0. Goalie Calvin Pickard won all four of his starts after replacing Stuart Skinner.

Avalanche rally to force Game 7

Valeri Nichushkin and Nathan MacKinnon scored about three minutes apart in the third period as Colorado rallied to beat the Dallas Stars 7-4.

Game 7 will be Saturday (8 p.m. ET, ABC) in Dallas. Stars coach Peter DeBoer is 8-0 in Game 7s.

John Haliburton, the father of Indiana Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton, will not attend Pacers home and away games for the foreseeable future as the team gets ready to start a second-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

That follows an incident in which John Haliburton confronted and exchanged words with Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo on the court after a game.

The decision was made by the Pacers’ front office, according to Pacers vice president of basketball communications and media relations Michael Preston.

John Haliburton had a courtside floor seat at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, and after Tyrese made the game-winning shot in the final seconds in the Game 5 series clincher, he ran onto the court and had a verbal altercation with Antetokounmpo.

Tyrese Haliburton admonished his dad’s actions, and John Haliburton apologized.

‘I sincerely apologize to Giannis, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Pacers organization for my actions following tonight’s game,’ John Haliburton posted on social media. ‘This was not a good reflection on our sport or my son and I will not make that mistake again.’

Said Tyrese Haliburton: ‘I don’t agree with what transpired there from him. Basketball is basketball and let’s keep it on the court. I think he just got excited, saw his son make a game winner and came on the court, but we had a conversation.’

Game 1 of the Cavaliers-Pacers series is Sunday in Cleveland.

Tyrese Haliburton’s father confronts Giannis

After Haliburton’s layup with 1.3 seconds remaining in overtime gave Indiana a 119-118 victory and eliminated the Bucks, John Haliburton and other Pacers fans stormed onto the court.

Moments later, TV cameras captured an animated discussion between the two before Antetokounmpo was ushered away.

Antetokounmpo’s response to confrontation

Antetokounmpo was still a little upset when asked about the exchange in a postgame interview.

“(A)t the moment I thought he was a fan,” he said. “But then I realize it was Tyrese’s [father]. I love Tyrese. I think he’s a great competitor. [But] it was his dad … Coming in the floor and showing me his son, a towel with his face, [and saying], ‘This is what we do. This is what we effing do. This what the eff we do.’ I feel like that’s very, very disrespectful.

‘I’m happy for him, I’m happy for his son, and I’m happy that he’s happy for his son,’ Antetokounmpo later added. ‘That’s how you’re supposed to feel. But coming to me and disrespecting me and cursing at me I think is totally unacceptable, totally unacceptable.’

Antetokounmpo said their discussion on the floor ended amicably, as evidenced by a thumbs-up gesture he gave as they parted.

‘I talked with him at the end,” Antetokounmpo said, “and I think we’re in a good place.”

LOS ANGELES — Rob Pelinka, president of basketball operations and general manager for the Los Angeles Lakers, walked past his team’s locker room sad-faced.

The Lakers’ season had just ended after a 103-96 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series. During the game, the TNT cameras caught Pelinka shaking his head in frustration.

A frustration that plagued the third-seeded Lakers in a series it lost to the sixth-seeded Timberwolves 4-1 and will linger into the offseason.

Rudy Gobert, Minnesota’s 7-foot-1 center, crushed the Lakers with 27 points and 24 rebounds while exposing a problem Pelinka and his front office could never solve. Trading Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic stripped the Lakers’ of their only effective rim protector.

The Timberwolves shot a ghastly 7-for-47 from 3-point range. But several times at Crypto. com Arena, Gobert corralled the shots and stuffed them through the hoop or laid it in.

He was 12-of-15 shooting for the floor, and the Lakers helped make it look effortless. The tallest player the Lakers had on the court was LeBron James, the Lakers’ 6-9 superstar.

But even James looked relatively helpless.

‘He seemed to get his hand on every rebound,’ Lakers guard Gabe Vincent said of Gobert. ‘That alone was his impact as well.

‘He finished things at the rim and he made some free throws (3-of-6). They had some guys step up and play big minutes and have a good game and he was one of them.’

One of them? He was the one.

Why did the Lakers not use their 7-footer, Jaxson Hayes? He made appearances in the first four games of the playoff series against the Timberwolves but scored only seven points.

‘You could say, ‘Oh play a center,’ ‘ Lakers coach JJ Redick said after the game. ‘We couldn’t score, so there’s a tradeoff to everything.’

Hayes riding the bench and Gobert dominating served as painful reminders the Lakers have failed to find a replacement for Davis, the 6-10 all-star.

That happened when the Lakers traded for Mark Williams, a 7-foot center with the Charlotte Hornets.

But the Lakers rejected the trade after the team said Williams failed his physical exam; but the deadline had passed. That left the Lakers to play a lot of centerless basketball, something that eventually caught up to them.

After their loss to the Timberwolves on Wednesday night, Williams posted on his account on X, formerly Twitter.

A simple smiley face emoji – a contrast to Pelinka’s sad face.

It was salt in the Lakers’ season-ending wounds.

Said Vincent, ‘We fell short.’

Literally and figuratively.

(This story has been updated to add new video).

The first Game 7 of the 2025 NBA playoffs is upon us. 

The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Denver Nuggets 111-105 in Game 6 on Thursday to force a decisive Game 7 on Saturday. The Clippers led by as many as 15 points at home at the Intuit Dome, but the Nuggets went on a 15-5 run in the fourth quarter to come within five points with 58.1 seconds remaining. Denver wasn’t able to pull it off and missed out on an opportunity to close out the series. Now it’s anyone’s game.

James Harden led the way for the Clippers with 28 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Kawhi Leonard added 27 points and 10 rebounds, while Norman Powell had 21 points and three rebounds. 

Nikola Jokic finished with 25 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Denver. Jamal Murray added 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. 

The Nuggets are 4-4 all-time in Game 7s, while the Clippers are 4-5. However, the Nuggets have had slightly better luck recently and have won two of their past three Game 7s, while the Clippers have lost three of their past four. The rested Oklahoma City Thunder await the winner of this series after sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies.

Catch up on all the highlights from Game 6:

Final: Clippers 111, Nuggets 105

Highlights: Game 6

End of 3Q: Clippers 90, Nuggets 79

The Clippers began to pull away in the third quarter, building a lead as large as 15 against the Nuggets. L.A. managed to outscore the Nuggets 32-22. James Harden had 23 points and Kawhi Leonard had 22 points through three quarters. Norman Powell provided a spark with 11 of his 19 points in the third. Nikola Jokic was limited to just three points in the quarter. He had 20 points for the Nuggets in the first half.

Halftime: Clippers 58, Nuggets 57

The Clippers outscored the Nuggets 33-29 in the second quarter to take a 58-57 lead at halftime. 

James Harden has bounced back from his recent performances to score 21 points and shoot 7-of-10 from the field. He scored just 26 points combined in Games 4 and 5.

Kawhi Leonard added 13 points for the Clippers. 

Nikola Jokic leads the Nuggets with 20 points and Jamal Murray has 12 points, six assists and six rebounds for Denver.

End of 1Q: Nuggets 28, Clippers 25

The Los Angeles Clippers started the first quarter with some momentum, but Jamal Murray continued where he left off, scoring a game-high 12 points in the opening quarter for the Nuggets. 

The Nuggets lead the Clippers 28-25. 

Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell led the Clippers in scoring with six points each. L.A. went 1-for-10 from the three-point line in the quarter.

How to watch Nuggets vs. Clippers: Time, TV, streaming info

• Time: 10 p.m. ET
• TV: TNT
• Stream: Fubo
• Location: Intuit Dome (Inglewood, California)

Clippers starters

James Harden, Kris Dunn, Norman Powell, Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac will start the game for Los Angeles, marking the same lineup the Clippers have used in the first five games of the series.

Denver Nuggets starting 5

The Nuggets are turning to the same starting lineup they’ve used the first five games of the first-round series — Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon.

Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard ready for Game 6 vs. Nuggets

Kawhi Leonard prepares for Game 6 as the Clippers host the Nuggets tonight. Through the first five games of the first-round series, Leonard has averaged 25.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists in 38.4 minutes per game.

Nuggets vs. Clippers Game 6 schedule

Game 6 of the NBA playoff series between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers is set to tipoff at 10 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 1.

Where are the Clippers playing tonight?

The Clippers will host the Nuggets at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.

Kris Dunn stats

In his ninth season and first with the Clippers, Dunn averaged 6.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 74 regular-season games with a career-high 58 starts. Through the first five games of the playoff series against the Nuggets, Dunn is averaging 7.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists, while shooting 41.7% from the field and 39.1% from three. 

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