Al Montoya stepped up when the Edmonton Oilers needed him.

The recently acquired backup netminder was pressed into duty Friday after starter Cam Talbot allowed two goals on three shots in 3:17 against the Arizona Coyotes.

Montoya steadied the ship from there, stopping all 19 shots faced to earn his first victory with his new team.

While it won't go in the books as a shutout, it was the first time Montoya had not given up a goal in six appearances this season, including four games played in 2017 with the Montreal Canadiens.

Help for Talbot has been on Edmonton's list of needs for quite some time, and Montoya's performance was encouraging, even if only at the expense of one of the NHL's worst teams.

The Oilers have one game remaining before their bye week, and it's possible Montoya will earn the start Saturday in Vegas to give Talbot an extended and much-needed break.

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The Sunshine State was friendly to the Calgary Flames.

A night after beating the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning, the Flames got the best of the Florida Panthers on Friday to extend their winning streak to six games, currently the longest in the NHL.

The opposition has not been of the pushover variety, either.

The length of the streak is not staggering by any means, but it's an important run of success nonetheless.

Calgary has now amassed 52 points and sits one behind the Los Angeles Kings for second in the Pacific Division, albeit with two more games played. The Flames have also built a four-point cushion over San Jose, but the Sharks also have games in hand on Calgary.

Still, the Flames are taking care of business as of late, and as a result, are hot on the trail of a playoff berth for the second season in a row.

Calgary plays Sunday in Carolina before the team's bye-week break.

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It's not only the Tampa Bay Lightning who will be without Victor Hedman as a result of a lower-body injury sustained Thursday in a game against Calgary.

The defenseman will be sidelined three-to-six weeks with the ailment, thereby forcing him to miss several regular-season contests as well as the upcoming All-Star Game, which the Lightning will host on Jan. 28.

Hedman was one of three defensemen named to the Atlantic Division roster, along with Ottawa's Erik Karlsson and Detroit's Mike Green. Here are three players who could step into those skates:

Morgan Rielly

The easy choice here is the Toronto Maple Leafs' Rielly, whose 31 points (five goals, 26 assists) rank him second among Atlantic defensemen - two behind Hedman.

Rielly is also sixth in scoring at his position league-wide, and is already only five points off his career high of 36 set two seasons ago.

Superstar center Auston Matthews will also be in attendance, and the addition of Toronto's best defenseman would certainly garner further interest in the event from one of hockey's largest fan bases.

Torey Krug

The Boston Bruins will already be represented by Brad Marchand, and while the young Charlie McAvoy would be an exciting replacement - and make no mistake, his time will come - it's Torey Krug who could add more black and gold to this year's All-Star festivities.

Krug is coming off a breakout 51-point campaign in 2016-17, and has recorded six goals and 16 assists through 36 games this season. While his point total ranks him seventh among Atlantic blue-liners, his point-per-game average (0.61) puts him behind only Karlsson, Hedman, Rielly, and Shea Weber (currently injured).

He's also recorded the third-most points by a defenseman from that division since the beginning of 2015-16, with Karlsson and Hedman again leading the way.

Krug's game lends itself to three-on-three excitement, too.

Mikhail Sergachev

Despite Hedman's absence, the hometown Lightning will be well showcased, with forwards Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos set to suit up.

Still, there's an argument to be made for the inclusion of rookie defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, acquired by Tampa Bay this past offseason in a deal centered around Jonathan Drouin.

Sergachev would by no means be a reach to replace his teammate. In 44 games, the 19-year-old has scored eight goals and added 18 assists, and his 26 points slot him fourth in the division (trailing Hedman, Karlsson, and Rielly), and 16th around the NHL.

He'll take on a bigger role for the Lightning with Hedman out of the lineup, and while he's been outperformed by Rielly and Krug (on average), he has proven to be a star performer perhaps sooner than expected. His presence would be a nice boost for Lightning fans.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray has returned home to Ontario, Canada because of a personal family matter and will miss at least one game, head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed Friday.

The Penguins are scheduled to play back-to-back games against the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Rangers on Saturday and Sunday, and then travel to California for a three-game road trip beginning Jan. 17 in Anaheim.

Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith will be the Penguins' netminders in Murray's absence.

Through 31 games, Murray posted a record of 15-12-1 with a .903 save percentage for a Pittsburgh team currently on the playoff bubble.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without their best defenseman for at least the next few weeks.

Victor Hedman will be out three-to-six weeks with the injury he sustained Thursday night against the Calgary Flames.

The veteran rearguard left the game after appearing to hurt his left leg in a collision with Flames forward Garnet Hathaway.

Hedman ranks third in points among all NHL blue-liners with 33 in 44 games.

He has played 25:36 per game this season, which ranks eighth in the league.

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The most durable player in the NHL is staying with the Anaheim Ducks.

Andrew Cogliano agreed to a three-year contract extension Friday, which carries a $3.25-million average annual value, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

Cogliano was a pending unrestricted free agent carrying a cap hit of $3 million in the final year of his contract, according to CapFriendly.

He holds the fourth-longest consecutive games played streak in NHL history (829) and hasn't missed a game in his NHL career since entering the league with the Edmonton Oilers in 2007-08.

The left winger is one of the most underrated players in the game, and he's been playing on Anaheim's second line alongside Ryan Kesler and Jakob Silfverberg this season.

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Gary Bettman isn't ruling out the possibility of an outdoor NHL game in North Carolina.

The NHL commissioner said as much at Friday's news conference introducing new Carolina Hurricanes majority owner Tom Dundon, who has inquired about it.

"Tom has already asked ... An outdoor game across the street is not out of the question," Bettman said, via Luke DeCock of The News & Observer.

PNC Arena, the home of the Hurricanes, is literally across the street from Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, which houses the NC State Wolfpack football program.

The football facility has a capacity of over 57,000.

Only two NHL outdoor games have been played in the southern United States in the modern era. The Los Angeles Kings faced the Anaheim Ducks at Dodger Stadium in 2014, and the San Jose Sharks hosted the Kings at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. just over a year later.

The New York Rangers defeated the Kings at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas back in 1991.

As far as outdoor NHL games at college football stadiums are concerned, there are two such spectacles on the horizon, with the Washington Capitals playing host to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md., on March 3, 2018, and with the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins squaring off at Notre Dame Stadium in the 2019 Winter Classic.

The Detroit Red Wings hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium, home of the University of Michigan Wolverines, in the Winter Classic on New Year's Day back in 2014.

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Josh Ho-Sang's AHL head coach didn't mince words about the New York Islanders prospect's maturity level, but acknowledged the effort has been there recently.

"He’s a baby,” Bridgeport Sound Tigers bench boss Brent Thompson told Greg Joyce of the New York Post, before praising the young forward's commitment.

“He’s a baby, he’s immature and he’s got a lot of growing to do. I’m excited. The upside of him is outstanding. He worked hard (Wednesday in practice), he’s been working really hard. We all make mistakes, we all have bad games. It’s how do we respond from those and what do we learn from them? Every piece of this season for Josh, with us, is a development piece. It’s just going to be a longer process with some people.”

Ho-Sang was a healthy scratch Wednesday for the first time this AHL season, not counting a game he missed in December that would've been his fifth in five days.

“I don’t think anybody can break my confidence, but it’s definitely put in a place where it’s not very good," he said after practice Wednesday. “There’s certain things I can do on the ice to remind myself of what I am and who I am. But it’s just tough when you have people getting on you and sometimes when everyone’s talking to you about the negative, you may look at yourself negatively.”

Ho-Sang showed some promise with the Islanders at the beginning of the season, collecting 12 points in 22 games, but has been sent down to the AHL multiple times since.

The winger, who turns 22 later this month, has 12 points in 15 contests with Bridgeport.

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