FanHouse Andrewladd

The math says a team that leads an NHL playoff series 3-2 goes on to win the series 80% of the time. With Chicago and Calgary tied at two wins apiece heading into Saturday's fifth game, a lot was obviously on the line.

While the Blackhawks easily won the game 5-1, it was not the big story of the night. That would end up being the obvious tension between Flames head coach Mike Keenan and the starting goalie he pulled in the second period, Miikka Kiprusoff.

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Kings 5, Capitals 4: Exciting game in Washington as the Caps and Kings combined to light up the scoreboard with nine goals and 80 shots in Los Angeles' 5-4 win. The Kings had a number of two-goal leads throughout the night, including a 5-3 advantage late in the third period. With just over a minute to play in regulation, Brooks Laich scored his 13th goal of the season, closing the deficit to just one.

Jonathan Quick managed to hold on for the Kings in net, as Washington fired 22 shots on goal in the third period, and 45 for the game. Alex Ovechkin scored his 37th goal of the season -- and 200th of his career -- for the Capitals.

I don't know what's been happening across the NHL the past two nights, but it's almost as if everyone jumped into a time machine (perhaps a DeLorean) and traveled back to 1985. Have you seen some of these scores? I'm talking 9-2, 8-5, 6-5, 7-3. It's crazy, like somebody went into the locker rooms across the league and shrunk down the goalie pads, or something.

One night after the Penguins steamrolled the Islanders to the tune of 9-2, and four different players across the league registered hat tricks, the goal-scoring barrage continued on Friday. Let's start in Newark, where the Devils outscored the Rangers, 8-5, in a game that had to be played with empty nets.

Midway through the second period, New Jersey was sitting with a seemingly comfortable 5-1 lead, before the Rangers roared back to tie the game at the 11:18 mark of the third period, thanks to Ryan Callahan's eighth goal of the season. The Rangers actually outshot the Devils by a 16-4 margin in the third period, though, New Jersey made the best of its few opportunities, scoring on three of them. Just 11 seconds after Callahan's equalizer, Patrick Elias scored the game-winner, before Brian Gionta and Jamie Langenbrunner sealed the win.

Not one of Ilya Bryzgalov's best performances for Phoenix, as the Chicago Blackhawks lit him up seven times on 28 shots, as the Coyotes lost a laugher, 7-1. Chicago received a pair of goals from Ben Eager, while also getting tallies from Dave Bolland, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Dustin Byfuglien, and Andrew ladd in the win.

Ladd also picked up three assists in the win, earning himself No. 1 start honors with his four point effort. The four points, by the way, were a career-best for the 22-year old forward.

With the Coyotes trailing 7-0 in the second period, Envir Lisin at least got them on the board with his fifth goal of the season, which was the shot they could sneak behind Chicago goalie Cristobal Huet, who stopped 20 shots in the win.

When Tuomo Ruutu was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks 9th overall back in 2001 draft, pundits expected Ruutu would be the next BIG THING in NHL Power Forwards.

Ruutu started off quite well, putting up and playing a very aggressive crash-and-bang "Canadian" style of game and putting up 23 goals in his rookie season. Ruutu loved to deliver hits, and looked like he'd develop into an effective 35-40 goal scorer for the Hawks for many seasons to come.

Alas, Ruutu ran into injury problems (and was mistaken for an armed robber!), and was never quite the same again. During the past two seasons, Ruutu has put up just 38 points in each campaign and hardly looks like he belongs on the top two lines of any club. The Canes, who gave up Andrew Ladd (another disappointing forward) to acquire Tuomo, are hoping that Ruutu can find his game in a new home, signed the young Finn to a simple 1-year deal that will pay him a cool $2.25M next season.

"We are happy he'll be back with our team and we hope that he can stay healthy and return to the 20-goal plateau that he reached during his rookie season," said Rutherford.

Is Tuomo simply a bigger version of his pesty and unproductive brother, Jarkko, or will he actually provide above-average offensive numbers? 20 goals is hardly much of an exciting target.

When the Chicago Blackhawks drafted Tuomo Ruutu 9th overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, they figured they were getting a franchise Power Forward in the mold of Keith Tkachuk.

Over six years later, the Blackhawks have apparently have ran out of patience, and are sick of waiting for Tuomo's offensive potential to blossom. With just 21 points this season, and just 38 points last season, Tuomo was looking to be just a regular grinder/pest like his brother, Jarkko.

In a swap of slowly-developing forwards, the Hawks sent Ruutu to the Carolina Hurricanes for Andrew Ladd, another first-round draft pick (2004, 4th overall) with size, skill, and a lack of production to date.

I'll give this swap one lone Milbury. I feel that Ruutu has more potential, but both players clearly needed a chance of scenery. Remember how long both Todd Bertuzzi and Olli Jokinen took to reach their full potential? It's likely that one, or both, players will reach that potential a few years down the road. As of now, it's a fairly even trade.