ICYMI, there was hockey on Tuesday night.

Crosby and McDavid faced off for the first time, another young phenom overshadowed all the hoopla, and Rick Nash hit a respectable career milestone.

Here are five things we learned in the NHL.

Conor vs. Sidney

That isn’t a typo.

It was the first showdown between Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid — two superstars separated by 10 years and 10 digits on their jerseys — and the game was largely a back-and-forth thriller.

Only it was another Conor who stole the show. More on that later.

McDavid recorded three points to Crosby’s zero and looked great doing it. Watch as the two are featured in this same video, with Crosby and Penguins being denied on a four-on-one while McDavid and the Oilers came right back with a high-speed chance of their own.

Check out this stat.

But it was Conor Sheary who had the last laugh as he scored his second goal of the game with under two minutes left. His pair of goals came in just 12:41 of ice time.

Despite the Penguins getting the W, we’ll give the decision here to Connor. Surely his outdueling of Crosby on this night could not be overshadowed…

Laine ahead of the rest

Or could it.

In a blowout win over the Dallas Stars Tuesday, Patrik Laine tallied three goals to record his second hat trick IN HIS 14th CAREER GAME!

He now leads the league in goals. He’s 18.

And for more stats that will get Winnipeggers falling out of their chairs.

Not for nothing, Mark Scheifele is your NHL points leader.

Golden Bear charms the Habs

Hey, Jack Nicklaus appeared in the Montreal Canadiens‘ dressing room Tuesday prior to the game. That’s a thing, right?

The golfing legend stopped by apparently to drop some wisdom on the Canadiens ahead of their tilt with the rival Boston Bruins. [Golfing early joke here.]

The Habs missed the playoffs last year but as Nicklaus said, “You got a pretty good start this year.”

Turns out the Golden Bear has been to a hockey game before.

“I’m from Columbus, incidentally,” he said. “That’s a bad deal right now, isn’t it?”

So wait, how did Nicklaus even come to be there?

Eriksson finally scores 1st in VAN

It’s been a long time coming for the third Canucks triplet.

Free agent signee Loui Eriksson finally scored his first in a Vancouver Canucks uniform Tuesday in a 5-3 win over the New York Rangers.

Needless to say, it’s been a tough start for the 2016-17 Nuckies.

But they prevailed in a convincing win over the typically high-scoring Rangers, and the monkey came off the back of more than just Eriksson.

Eriksson now has just one goal and four assists in 14 games with Vancouver. The flashes of brilliance we’ve seen from the Swedish triplets have been few and far between but we know more are coming.

Now, about that contract.



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Rick Nash hits 400

Speaking of the Rangers’ scoring prowess this season…

Rick Nash is the sixth active player to reach the milestone.

Nash already has seven goals in 14 games this year, after potting just 15 in 60 last season. He’s hit at least 30 goals eight times and 40 goals twice over his career. He’s had his share of scoring and injury woes since he entered the league in 2002 but it’s nice to see him hit such a huge number.

Nash is 92nd all-time in scoring, two goals behind Paul Kariya.