NESN plans to announce Thursday that it is launching its own free, advertising-supported national streaming channel.

The New England regional sports network has launched a free streaming channel to cover Boston and other northeast teams. Right now, the Boston Bruins are one point out of the NHL Eastern Conference Playoffs with a month and a half still to play,

New England sports outlet NESN thinks it can tackle new viewers with a free, ad-supported outlet that shows more than just clips, archived studio shows and old games. The primary broadcaster of games from the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins,