The New York Sirens are getting the opportunity to showcase professional women’s hockey under the bright lights in the big city, with a home game at Madison Square Garden against Hilary Knight and the Seattle Torrent scheduled for April 4.
The Sirens made it official on Thursday, announcing the highly anticipated game that will mark the eight-team PWHL’s first at a building dubbed “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” and home to the NHL's Rangers and NBA's Knicks.
“Playing at the Garden is an honor and sharing it with our dedicated fans will make it even more special,” Sirens general manager Pascal Daoust said. “New York doesn’t just watch moments, it lives with them. This is one of those nights meant to be experienced together.”
New York (6-5) enters the day second in the PWHL standings after finishing last in each of the league’s first two seasons.
The team’s improvement is the result of a youth movement in which Daoust used first-round draft picks to add Czech Republic forward Kristyna Kaltounkova and college hockey MVP Casey O’Brien to a lineup already featuring last season's rookie of the year and No. 1 pick Sarah Fillier.
Kaltounkova leads PWHL rookies with seven goals and shares the rookie points lead with O’Brien at seven.
The Sirens will play across the Hudson River from what’s been their permanent home the past two seasons at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Though the game is not part of the PWHL’s previously announced 16-stop neutral site Takeover Tour, the site for the outing between New York and Seattle was left open when the league released its schedule.
The Torrent (3-4-1 with an OT win) are one of the PWHL’s two expansion teams, and captained by Knight, who will be making her U.S. women’s hockey national team-record fifth Olympic appearance at the Milan Cortina Games next month. The Torrent also feature former Sirens players in forward Alex Carpenter and goalie Corinne Schroeder.
The outing will serve as a hockey doubleheader at MSG, with the Rangers hosting the Detroit Red Wings earlier in the day.
Though a first for the PWHL, Madison Square Garden hosted a Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association exhibition Dream Gap Tour outing in February 2021. No fans were present because of COVID-19 restrictions, but the game was broadcast live in the U.S. and Canada.
The PWHPA eventually evolved into the PWHL two years later, with the financial backing of Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter and support of tennis icon Billie Jean King and her partner Ilana Kloss.
AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
New York Sirens' Kristyna Kaltounkova, front, brings the puck around the net to shoot at Toronto Sceptres goaltender Elaine Chuli, second left, during the first period of an PWHL hockey game in Toronto, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
New York Sirens goaltender Kayle Osborne (82) is seen during PWHL hockey action against the Toronto Sceptres in Toronto, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Federal immigration agents shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland on Thursday, a day after an officer fatally shot a woman in Minnesota, authorities said.
The shooting drew hundreds of protesters to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building at night, and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield vowed to investigate “whether any federal officer acted outside the scope of their lawful authority” and refer criminal charges to the prosecutor's office if warranted.
The Department of Homeland Security said the vehicle's passenger was “a Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” who was involved in a recent shooting in the city. When agents identified themselves to the occupants during a “targeted vehicle stop” in the afternoon, the driver tried to run them over, the department said in a statement.
“Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot,” it said. “The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene.”
There was no immediate independent corroboration of that account or of any gang affiliation of the vehicle's occupants. During prior shootings involving agents from President Donald Trump's immigration crackdowns in U.S. cities, including the fatal one Wednesday in Minneapolis, video evidence has cast doubt on the administration's characterizations of what prompted the shootings.
Trump and his allies have consistently blamed the Tren de Aragua gang for being at the root of violence and drug dealing in some U.S. cities.
The Portland shooting escalates tensions in a city that has long had a contentious relationship with Trump, including due to his recent failed effort to deploy National Guard troops there. The city saw long-running nightly protests outside the ICE building.
According to the Portland Police bureau, officers initially responded to a report of a shooting outside Adventist Health hospital at 2:18 p.m. Thursday.
A few minutes later, police received information that a man who had been shot was asking for help in a residential area a couple of miles away. Officers went there and found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds. Officers determined that they were injured in the shooting with federal agents, police said.
Their conditions were not immediately known. Portland police said officers applied a tourniquet to one of them.
City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney said during a meeting that “as far as we know, both of these individuals are still alive, and we are hoping for more positive updates throughout the afternoon.”
At a nighttime news conference, Police Chief Bob Day said the FBI was leading the investigation and he had no details about the events that led to the shooting.
Mayor Keith Wilson and the City Council called on ICE to end all operations in Oregon’s largest city until a full investigation is completed.
“We stand united as elected officials in saying that we cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts,” they said in a statement. “Portland is not a ‘training ground’ for militarized agents, and the ‘full force’ threatened by the administration has deadly consequences.”
Wilson also suggested at a news conference that he does not necessarily believe the federal government's account of the shooting: “There was a time we could take them at their word. That time is long past.”
Democratic State Sen. Kayse Jama, who lives near where it took place, said Oregon is a welcoming state — but he told federal agents to leave.
“You are not welcome,” Jama said. “You need to get the hell out of Oregon.”
The city officials said “federal militarization undermines effective, community‑based public safety, and it runs counter to the values that define our region. We’ll use every legal and legislative tool available to protect our residents’ civil and human rights.”
They urged residents to show up with “calm and purpose during this difficult time.”
Several dozen people gathered in the evening near the scene where police found the wounded people.
“It’s just been chaos,” said one, Anjalyssa Jones. “The community is trying to get answers.”
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, urged protesters to remain peaceful.
“Trump wants to generate riots,” he said on the social platform X. “Don’t take the bait.”
Johnson reported from Seattle. Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.
A protester yells at a Portland police officer outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Protesters and law enforcement stand outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A protester yells at a Portland police officer outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Law enforcement officials work the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
A security guard stands at the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Law enforcement officials work the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez, center, speaks to the media following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Law enforcement officials work the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Law enforcement officials work the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
FILE - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seal during a news conference June 28, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
