PHOENIX | At the moment, it appears the Phoenix Coyotes will be staying in the desert.</p><p>The Coyotes&rsquo; bumpy six-month journey through U.S. Bankruptcy Court came to an end Monday with a judge&rsquo;s approval of the sale of the franchise to the NHL.</p><p> NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league would work to take full control of the Coyotes&rsquo; business operations.</p><p> &ldquo;The league also will engage immediately in a process to identify &mdash; and expedite sale of the franchise to &mdash; new ownership that is committed to the club&rsquo;s long-term success in the Phoenix/Glendale area,&rdquo; Daly said in a statement released by the league.</p><p>Daly said the NHL hopes Monday&rsquo;s developments &ldquo;will provide fans further reason to embrace the Coyotes in order to ensure the team&rsquo;s long-term future in Arizona.&rdquo;</p><p>Daly says any new buyer would have to get a reworked lease agreement with the city. If an owner who would keep the team in Arizona can&rsquo;t be found, the league says it will look to relocate the franchise.</p><p> The NHL&rsquo;s bid totals about $140 million. The official figure listed in the sale order is $128.4 million, but that does not include the $11.6 million the NHL has agreed to spend to purchase claims of nearly all the unsecured creditors in the case.</p><p>The only party who didn&rsquo;t join in the agreement is former coach Wayne Gretzky, who owned a small portion of the team. However, Gretzky did not file a formal objection with the court.</p><p> The sale ends a lengthy, contentious court fight pitting the NHL against Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes and Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie.</p><p> Moyes, founder of Swift Transportation, took the team into Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 5, with a plan to sell the team to Balsillie, contingent on moving the franchise to Hamilton, Ontario. The filing took the NHL by surprise and the league vowed to fight it. For now, it looks like the NHL &mdash; and Phoenix &mdash; have won. </p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">Games </span></strong><br /> &bull;At Philadelphia 6, Tampa Bay 2 </p><p>&bull;At N.Y. Islanders 3, Edmonton 1 </p><p>&bull;Los Angeles 5, at Phoenix 3</p><p><strong><span class="infobox-head">Highlights </span></strong><br /> &bull;The Flyers&rsquo; <strong>Mike Richards </strong>and <strong>Jeff Carter </strong>each tallied two goals.</p><p>&bull;<strong>Brendan Witt </strong>posted the first two-goal game of his career, and the Islanders stretched their winning streak to a season-high four games.</p><p>&bull;The Kings&rsquo; <strong>Drew Doughty </strong>had the go-ahead goal in the third period.</p><p><strong><span class="infobox-head">News </span></strong><br /> &bull;Flyers winger <strong>Simon Gagne </strong>is expected to miss the next six to eight weeks after having abdominal and hip surgery today. </p><p>&bull;Anaheim Ducks defenseman <strong>James Wisniewski </strong>was suspended two games without pay for a hit he delivered to the head of Phoenix&rsquo;s <strong>Shane Doan </strong>on Saturday.</p><p>&bull;Washington Capitals coach <strong>Bruce Boudreau </strong>said <strong>Alex Ovechkin&rsquo;s </strong>upper-body injury doesn&rsquo;t seem serious, but Ovechkin, who left Sunday&rsquo;s game against Columbus in the second period, will likely miss the Caps&rsquo; game on Wednesday against the Devils.</p><p></div>