Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jeff Carter is calling it a career after nearly two decades.

The 39-year-old helped the Los Angeles Kings win the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014. Over his largely productive career, he played 10 seasons with the Kings, six with the Philadelphia Flyers, four with the Penguins, and part of one with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Carter notched 442 goals and 409 assists in 1,321 regular-season games. He netted the Penguins' final tally of this campaign in a 5-4 loss to the New York Islanders on Wednesday night.

Carter confirmed postgame that he's hanging up his skates for good.

"Not sure (what I'm going to do now)," Carter said. "I'm going to be a dad. You miss a lot being a hockey player. You're in and out and away ... My family - all hockey families - sacrificed a lot for us to leave out our dream. So I'm going to be home and be a dad for a while, and then we'll figure it out from there."

The Canadian added 47 tallies and 37 helpers in 133 playoff contests.

Carter tied for the league lead with eight playoff goals over 20 games during the Kings' 2012 championship run, then racked up 25 points (including 10 goals) across 26 postseason contests in 2014. Carter trailed only teammate Anze Kopitar for the playoff points lead and fellow King Marian Gaborik for the postseason lead in goals during that second Cup run.

Carter amassed a career-high 46 goals and 38 assists with the Flyers in 2008-09. He topped the team in goals and points that season.

The Ontario-born center was a two-time All-Star who won gold with Canada at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and the World Junior Championship in 2005.

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The Arizona Coyotes' impending relocation has been widely reported, but the man who appears to be acquiring the team has now essentially provided confirmation.

"There's no secret on what's out there online," Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith said Wednesday at the World Congress of Sports, according to Sports Business Journal's Alex M. Silverman. "Normally, not everything on the internet is true, but in this case, it's pretty true."

The NHL's Board of Governors will meet Thursday at 3 p.m. ET to vote on the sale, per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

On Saturday night, Friedman reported that the NHL plans to buy the Coyotes from owner Alex Meruelo for $1 billion, then sell them to Smith for $1.2 billion. Arizona's hockey operations staff would relocate to Salt Lake City with the Coyotes, and Meruelo would have five years to secure a new arena, at which point he'd be granted a team of his own if he's successful.

On Friday, Friedman said the players were informed before that night's win over the Edmonton Oilers that the club is moving to Utah.

Two days before that, ESPN's Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski reported the league was prepping a contingency plan that could move the Coyotes to the Beehive State for next season.

No deal for the sale of the franchise has yet been finalized.

Arizona's last game of the season is Wednesday night against the Oilers at Mullett Arena, the 5,000-seat NCAA building the team was forced to move into for the 2022-23 campaign after its lease at Gila River Arena in Glendale - now known as Desert Diamond Arena - expired.

Smith is also the co-owner of MLS' Real Salt Lake. He's a 45-year-old billionaire who co-founded Qualtrics, an experience management company based in Provo, Utah.

This isn't the first time he's acknowledged the possibility of landing an NHL squad. Earlier this month, Smith asked fans for team name ideas.

In January, Smith submitted a formal request to the NHL to bring a franchise to Utah. He's been beating that drum since last June when he told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun that "hockey would thrive here." NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly acknowledged at the time that the league had spoken to Smith about his interest.

The original Winnipeg Jets relocated to Phoenix to become the Coyotes in 1996.

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The Florida Panthers clinched first place in the Atlantic Division with their victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins' loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.

Florida will face the cross-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round, while the second-place Boston Bruins will meet the third-ranked Toronto Maple Leafs in the other divisional matchup.

Shortly before the Panthers clinched the division, the Washington Capitals secured the final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference. They'll face the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers in Round 1. The Carolina Hurricanes will take on the New York Islanders in the other Metropolitan Division series.

The Atlantic crown is the Panthers' second in three years and fourth in franchise history.

Florida finished this regular season at 52-24-6 for 110 points. The Panthers wrapped up the 82-game slate with one point more than the Bruins and eight points more than the Maple Leafs. The Lightning nabbed the first wild-card spot in the East by finishing fourth in the Atlantic.

The Rangers (114) and Hurricanes (111) end the campaign with more points in the standings than the Panthers.

Florida finished fourth in the Atlantic last season but pulled off a shocking upset of the historically dominant Bruins over seven games in the first round. The Cats went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final last spring before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Panthers won the Presidents' Trophy in 2021-22 - the last time they won the division - but the Lightning swept them out of the second round.

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The Anaheim Ducks got one of the top collegiate players under contract Sunday, signing Cutter Gauthier to a three-year, entry-level pact beginning this season.

Gauthier starred for Boston College in 2023-24, leading the nation with 38 goals - the most by an NCAA player since 1999-2000 - and tying for the most in a campaign in program history.

The 20-year-old winger was one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the top men's college hockey player.

Anaheim acquired Gauthier in a shocking trade with the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick on Jan. 8. The Flyers drafted Gauthier fifth overall in 2022, but he later requested a trade. Philadelphia general manager Daniel Briere said Gauthier told the organization he didn't want to be a part of it.

Gauthier helped top-ranked Boston College reach the national championship game Saturday, but the Eagles lost to third-seeded Denver.

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The Anaheim Ducks got one of the top collegiate players under contract Sunday, signing Cutter Gauthier to a three-year, entry-level pact beginning this season.

Gauthier starred for Boston College in 2023-24, leading the nation with 38 goals - the most by an NCAA player since 1999-2000 - and tying for the most in a campaign in program history.

The 20-year-old winger was one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the top men's college hockey player.

Anaheim acquired Gauthier in a shocking trade with the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick on Jan. 8. The Flyers drafted Gauthier fifth overall in 2022, but he later requested a trade. Philadelphia general manager Daniel Briere said Gauthier told the organization he didn't want to be a part of it.

Gauthier helped top-ranked Boston College reach the national championship game Saturday, but the Eagles lost to third-seeded Denver.

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Salt Lake City still appears to be on the verge of landing the Arizona Coyotes, but not before the NHL takes control of them.

"The league is going to buy the Coyotes for a billion dollars, and the current owner Alex Meruelo is going to have a five-year window to prove he can put together a new arena, go to the land auction, win it, get shovels in the ground ... everything that he has to do to prove he can build a new arena," Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on "Saturday Headlines."

The next step in the process is where Salt Lake City comes in.

"And then kind of like expansion, the league is going to sell a new team to Utah and owner Ryan Smith for $1.2 billion," Friedman said. "The (Coyotes') hockey operations (staff) are expected to go with that."

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and his deputy Bill Daly reportedly met with the Coyotes' ownership group about a month ago and told it that it could "pursue the new arena for Coyotes 2.0, but (the league's) in a position here where we can't allow this particular iteration of the team to continue any longer," according to Friedman.

On Friday, he reported the Coyotes' players were informed they're moving to Utah before their game that night against the Edmonton Oilers, which they won in overtime.

Earlier Saturday, Meruelo said in a statement through the team that he hoped "to address these issues" as soon as he's able to do so.

It was reported Wednesday that the Coyotes could move to Utah as soon as next season.

Arizona has been forced to play at Mullett Arena, a 5,000-seat NCAA facility, since 2022-23 after their lease expired at Gila River Arena following the previous campaign.

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The Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets will battle in the opening round of the postseason.

Neither club has secured home-ice advantage for the series. That will be decided by which team finishes higher in the Central Division. The Jets sit in second place with a two-point lead on the third-ranked Avalanche through 80 games for both squads.

Winnipeg thumped Colorado 7-0 on Saturday to sweep the three-game season series.

The Avalanche and Jets have never played each other in the playoffs.

The postseason begins next Saturday.

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Washington Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen was taken off the ice on a stretcher Saturday after being hit by Tampa Bay Lightning forward Mikey Eyssimont and falling awkwardly into the boards.

Jensen laid motionless on the ice as the two teams brawled in the aftermath.

Eyssimont was initially escorted to the penalty box by the officials but ultimately wasn't penalized.

Shorty thereafter, the Capitals said Jensen is conscious, alert, and can use all his extremities. The team's medical staff will continue to monitor him. Washington ultimately prevailed 4-2 to keep the club's playoff hopes alive.

Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said postgame that Jensen walked out of the arena with his family and didn't need to be hospitalized.

The game went to the first intermission early as a result of the incident.

Washington forward Nic Dowd challenged Eyssimont to a fight in the second frame.

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper checked in on Jensen's condition after the game.

“It’s tough to see anybody (go through that), but he's a special kid for me," Cooper said, according to Lightning team reporter Gabby Shirley. "We won a championship in the USHL together. He's awesome. Those are tough ones to see, especially because the result of the hit, it wasn't penalized nor should it have been. It was just a tough one all the way around. I'm hoping he is OK.”

Jensen is in his fifth full season with the Capitals. He played parts of three campaigns with the Detroit Red Wings to start his career before they traded him to Washington in February 2019.

The 33-year-old has played a top-four role with the Capitals this season. He has a goal and 13 assists over 78 games in 2023-24 and came into Saturday's game averaging 19:48 of ice time.

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Washington Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen was taken off the ice on a stretcher Saturday after being hit by Tampa Bay Lightning forward Mikey Eyssimont and falling awkwardly into the boards.

Jensen laid motionless on the ice as the two teams brawled in the aftermath.

Eyssimont was initially escorted to the penalty box by the officials but ultimately wasn't penalized.

Shorty thereafter, the Capitals said Jensen is conscious, alert, and can use all of his extremities. The team's medical staff will continue to monitor him.

The game went to the first intermission early as a result of the incident.

Capitals forward Nic Dowd challenged Eyssimont to a fight in the second frame.

Jensen is in his fifth full season with the Capitals. He played parts of three campaigns with the Detroit Red Wings to start his career before they traded him to Washington in February 2019.

The 33-year-old has played a top-four role with the Capitals this season. He has a goal and 13 assists over 78 games in 2023-24 and came into Saturday's game averaging 19:48 of ice time.

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The Los Angeles Kings punched their third straight postseason ticket with a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

The Kings sit third in the Pacific Division, where they finished in each of the two previous campaigns.

L.A. heads back to the playoffs after firing head coach Todd McLellan on Feb. 2. Jim Hiller's squad is 19-11-1 since he took over at the All-Star break. The Kings had lost 14 of 17 and fell to a wild-card spot when McLellan was let go.

They lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the first round both last season and in the prior campaign.

The Kings haven't made it out of the opening round since winning the Stanley Cup in 2014. Following their two championships in a three-year span, the San Jose Sharks dispatched them in five games in 2015-16 en route to their own Cup Final appearance.

Two years later, the Vegas Golden Knights swept L.A. in the first round before making a trip to the final in their inaugural season.

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