FanHouse Evgeny Artyukhin

Newsmakers in the NHL: During the regular season it's our daily look at the previous night's action. During the offseason, it's our link dump that looks at some of the storylines and moves taking place around the league three times per week. Have a tip or something you want linked? Send it in to nhlfanhouse@gmail.com.

Ducks Acquire Evgeny Artyukhin For Drew Miller

On Thursday, the Anaheim Ducks added some bulk to their lineup by acquiring 6-foot-5, 254-pound winger Evgeny Artyukhin from the Tampa Bay Lightning for forward Drew Miller and a third-round pick. Artyukhin, 26, played in 73 games with Tampa Bay this past season, registering six goals to go with 10 assists and 151 penalty minutes. One of the biggest players in the NHL and capable of dropping the gloves, Artyukhin will add even more toughness to an already big, and physical, Ducks lineup.

Miller, 25, has six goals in 53 NHL games.

Hockey legend Gordie Howe turned 81 on Tuesday. Ever since the 1950s, the term "Gordie Howe hat trick" has been used to describe a player scoring a goal, picking up an assist, and getting into a fight during a game.

On Howe's 81st birthday, Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara found a fun way to celebrate. He picked up a Gordie Howe hat trick in a 3-1 win over Tampa Bay.

If the NHL follows through with its plan to eliminate "staged fights," we're no longer going to see the type of tomfoolery shown below. That's Florida Panthers forward Ville Peltonen dropping the gloves with Tampa Bay's Evgeny Artyukhin four seconds into Saturday's game. Eliminating these "staged" fights is probably a good thing, though we would have missed out on this insane David vs. Goliath mismatch.

Peltonen, all 5-foot-11, 200 pounds of him, challenged the 6-foot-4, 254-pound Artyuhkin right off the opening draw and ultimately ended up in the fetal position. It almost appeared as if Artyuhkin didn't want to fight, knowing full well he was going to pound Peltonen into the ice.

Tuesday night's game against Edmonton is probably one that Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire would like to permanently erase from his memory, seeing as how it's probably the worst game he's ever played in the NHL. Leclaire gave up seven goals on just 19 shots, as the Oilers rolled to a 7-2 victory, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Columbus finished with a commanding edge in the shots department, firing 39 shots at Dwayne Roloson -- he stopped 37 of them -- and still managed to skate away losing by five goals.

Seven different players scored for Edmonton, including Dustin Penner, who returned to the ice after being banished to the press box for the past two games for, well, not being fit enough to help the club. Penner was also a factor on Edmonton's first goal, as he parked his massive frame in front of Leclaire, providing a screen on Sheldon Souray's blast from the point. Andrew Cogliano, Tom Gilbert, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Shawn Horcoff and Lubomir Visnovsky also scored for the Oilers.

Kristian Huselius and Rick Nash scored the only goals for the Blue Jackets.