NHL Tuesday: Capitals throttle Kings with shutout win

Tuesday was an unusual night for NHL hockey. The play on the ice was spectacular at times and downright hilarious at others. It was a potent mix that resulted in one of the busiest and most entertaining nights of the season.

But news off the ice provided plenty of discussion as well. The Las Vegas NHL group announced the start of their season ticket drive, an important stepping stone towards the inevitable NHL expansion. The news offered a glimmer of hope that expansion out west can be both profitable and affordable for owners and fans alike.

Pack it up. Go home. This is your save of the year.

If you look closely, you can almost see the moment where Jon Cooper became annoyed with the adorable, hilarious little kid behind him. But then the moment passed and the girl’s antics went unnoticed.

What a shame. We salute you, kid! Keep up the good work.

So how he managed to whiff with the game-tying goal on his stick is baffling.

Time expired and New Jersey held on for a 2-1 win. Yeah. That one’s going to keep him up tonight.

Remind us to never make Mike Green angry.

No one player in all of sports gets poked, prodded and generally whacked at more than an NHL goalie. Some goalies will put up with this abuse.

You’re going to need huge moments from your goaltender when you play the defending champions, no matter how average they happen to be playing lately.

After a light schedule on Monday, the NHL will rev back up in earnest with a full slate of games on Tuesday. Chief among them are a couple of important Western Conference matchups that could help shape the difficult wildcard dogfight ahead.

The two teams will square off in one of the better games of an 11-game slate. The puck is scheduled to drop at 8:30 p.m. ET in Dallas. It won’t, however, be the only game to watch on the night. The Blues hosting the Lightning and the Jets traveling to Vancouver to take on the Canucks are among the other games ripe with playoff implications.