Puck Headlines: How I met your tastefully dressed cheerleaders

Here are yourEvening Puck Headlines: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

• We're waiting for one long weekend to catch up on CBS's "How I Met Your Mother," but must pass along this alert for tonight's episode: Robin (Cobie Smulders, who'll be in the new Broken Lizard movie) is homesick for Canada, and rocks a Roberto Luongo Vancouver Canucks jersey in a fun-filled flashback. Japers said it best: "There's just something about a lady in a hockey sweater, isn't there?"

Preview: Vancouver Canucks vs. Washington Capitals (7 p.m. EDT; TV: VS., CPPV). Meanwhile, Captain Loo and the Canucks are on Versus tonight against the Washington Capitals. The Caps' "Red Rockers" spirit squad debuted over the weekend; while they were very skeptical of the gimmick at first, On Frozen Blog was pleased to discover girls in tasteful outfits performing good deeds. Which no doubt left Ovechkin feeling underwhelmed, but optimistic he may still find his Temple of Poetry.

Los Angeles Kings coach Terry Murray discusses the team losing defenseman Jack Johnson for 2-3 months with a shoulder injury and the acquisition of Kyle Quincey on waivers. [Inside the Kings]

• Chris Chester believes that "the percentage of the hockey rink that remains ad or graphic free seems to be slowly dwindling." Why, because the blue line is close to being replaced by a Papa John's logo? [Open Sports]

Preview: Detroit Red Wings at Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m. EDT; TV: FSD, FSS). Wow, you read that matchup and those memories of the 2002 Stanley Cup finals just come rushing back, don't they? Like ... uh ... wasn't there, like, a triple overtime game somewhere in there? Anyhoo, Snapshots has some Red Wings/Canes preview material, including the best lockout joke we've heard in about three years. OK, the only one we've heard.

• Chris Botta offers an amazing recap of the New York Islanders' 7-1 defeat to the Buffalo Sabres this afternoon. [Point Blank]

• Even that hockey hotbed Editor & Publisher is looking at Palin at the Flyers game. [E&P]

Preview: Montreal Canadiens at Philadelphia Flyers (7 p.m. EDT; TV: RDS, CSP). The last time Jesus Price came to Philly, he pretty much crapped himself in a chaotic playoff environment. That will be all the motivation Price and his teammates will need, according to Habs World. The Flyers, meanwhile, are suddenly looking at this game as a must-win and Flyers Goal Scored By ... believes they can win. "If they get some timely saves by Biron, capitalize on an aggressive forecheck and have Riley Cote find BGL in the stands and fight him on the streets of Philly like in Rocky 5."

Preview: New Jersey Devils at New York Rangers (7 p.m. EDT; TV: MSG). The first regular season Battle of the Hudson pits two teams that look somewhat different than the ones that met in the playoffs last season. Brodeur, to Fire & Ice: "But for our fans it doesn't matter. It's still a big rivalry. It's always exciting to go and play them. It's always a fun challenge. But it's a new year. We really struggled last year (against the Rangers) - not just in the playoffs, but in the regular season also. So, this is the time for us to start to change that." Outside the Garden has the Rangers perspective, including the requisite trash talk: "The Devils have added 2 OLD-time Devils and are at midseason TRAP form already. They have a huge 4th line that may be the most expensive 4th line in the NHL (6.4 million)."

• More coverage about the tragic death of Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov. [Blueshirts Bulletin]

• Never at a loss for words and/or controversy, Mark Madden would like the Pittsburgh Penguins to trade Jordan Staal now. [Beaver County Times]

Preview: Nashville Predators at Chicago Blackhawks (8:30 p.m. EDT; TV: FSS, CSNC). Good to see Chicago's keeping the expectations in check: Players will be brought to the game in limos and introduced to the crowd as they enter the arena. Meanwhile, the Predators will try and make a statement that they deserve to finish behind Detroit this season.

• Finally, from the You Can't Make This Stuff Up dept., Ryan Hollweg gets a 5-minute major for boarding in his first game back from suspension for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Which means an automatic three-game suspension. Yikes. The Leafs lost to the St. Louis Blues in a shootout, 5-4.

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