The Edmonton Oilers acquired goaltender Al Montoya from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2018, the club announced Thursday.

Montoya has been on injured reserve since suffering a concussion Nov. 4. In four games this season with Montreal, he registered a 2-1-0 record to go along with a 3.77 goals-against average and .863 save percentage.

Once Montoya is healthy, he will add an element of veteran depth to Edmonton's crease, as the Oilers are currently using the unproven Laurent Brossoit as the No. 2 behind starting netminder Cam Talbot.

Montoya is under contract until July 1, 2019.

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Nazem Kadri doesn't have a reasonable explanation as to how part of Joe Thornton's beard ended up in his hand following their scrap off the opening faceoff Thursday night.

"I ended up with a piece in my hand," Kadri told The Athletic's James Mirtle postgame. "I have no idea what happened. I'm a hockey player, not a barber."

As it turns out, Kadri appeared to snag Thornton's beard while attempting to grab the collar of his jersey - a standard fighting tactic.

While Thornton may have gotten the edge in their brief fight, Kadri and the Maple Leafs got the upper hand in the game, defeating the Sharks 3-2 in a shootout, with Kadri's second-period redirect goal proving to be integral.

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Drake Batherson notched a hat trick as Canada advanced to the gold-medal game at the World Junior Hockey Championship with a 7-2 drubbing of the Czech Republic in the second semifinal Thursday night in Buffalo.

Boris Katchouk, Jordan Kyrou, Maxime Comtois, and Sam Steel also scored for Canada in the rout.

Three of Canada's goals came on the power play, and the team nearly doubled the Czechs in the shots-on-goal department, out-shooting them by a 39-20 margin.

Filip Zadina poured in both Czech Republic goals, opening the scoring less than six minutes in and collecting the game's final marker midway through the third period.

The Canadian squad will face Sweden on Friday at 8 p.m. ET. The Swedes doubled up the United States 4-2 earlier Thursday in the first semifinal. The Czech Republic will battle the U.S. for bronze at 4 p.m. ET on Friday.

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The Buffalo Sabres were already down two goals to the Minnesota Wild early on, and then their most reliable defenseman got kicked out of the game for doing this to Mikko Koivu:

Rasmus Ristolainen was assessed a five-minute major for interference and a game misconduct for the hit, which left Koivu looking like this:

Without Ristolainen, who came into the game ranked third in the NHL in time-on-ice per game, the Sabres allowed Wild forward Nino Niederreiter to notch a hat trick, as he tallied twice following the incident after opening the scoring just over a minute in.

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Sweden eliminated the United States from gold-medal contention at the World Junior Hockey Championship with a 4-2 win in the semifinal Thursday.

After a scoreless first period, the Swedes jumped out to a 1-0 lead thanks to an power-play snipe from Canucks first-rounder Elias Pettersson midway through the second period.

USA had a glorious chance to tie the game in the waning minutes of the second period, but Sabres prospect Casey Mittelstadt opted to deke on a 3-on-0 rather than passing, and it didn't work. To make matters worse for the Americans, Kieffer Bellows wound up taking a goaltender interference penalty on the play. This would prove to be the turning point.

Lias Andersson notched one for the Swedes early in the thrid period, followed by back-to-back shorthanded goals from Oskar Steen and Axel Jonsson Fjällby to give them a 4-0 lead.

USA added two late tallies from Bellows and Brady Tkachuk, but it proved to be too little too late.

The Swedes will face the winner of Canada and Czech Republic in the gold-medal game, while the host Americans will face the loser in the bronze-medal game.

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TORONTO — Although it's technically a school day, a horde of children and teenagers flocks toward the practice facility at the MasterCard Centre in hopes of getting an autograph from Joe Thornton, Brent Burns, and Logan Couture before the San Jose Sharks take the ice.

Aaron Dell, who's posting numbers that rival any goaltender in the league, breezes through the crowd without being recognized. "The World's Okayest Goalie" has outperformed his nickname, but widespread acclaim has yet to follow.

It seems apparent to everyone but Dell - and, perhaps, the legion of otherwise awestruck children - that the 28-year-old is becoming one of the NHL's most surprising stars. Across 15 appearances (11 starts), he's posting a superlative .934 save percentage and 1.98 goals-against average entering Thursday's road game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both of those stats rank third in the NHL.

Though Dell seems to have outgrown his nickname, he isn't concerned about changing it.

"The name is kind of a joke in the first place, just kind of the way my demeanor is. Just kind of laid-back. I try to go out and give the team a chance to win. I really didn't take too much into it, I guess for the actual meaning of it. I've been having a good season this year and hopefully I can continue," Dell told theScore.

With Martin Jones entrenched as the Sharks' starter, Dell remains the backup, though his situation could change next season - he's set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Dell is reticent on that topic, but his teammates are happy to offer testimonials about the quality of his goaltending.

"They should watch the San Jose Sharks when he's playing. Not enough people watch the Sharks because we start late," defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic told theScore.

"He's a very good goalie - just watch him play."

Blue-liner Justin Braun has noticed a slight change in how Dell carries himself on the ice, but notes that his approach hasn't changed.

"He does look more confident in games but that's never really been an issue for him," Braun said. "He just goes about his business and gets the job done. It's impressive."

Dell's waited a while for the opportunity to impress at the NHL level. In 2010-11, he broke Ed Belfour's single-season record for wins at North Dakota, but the achievement barely registered nationally. He went undrafted, signed with the Central Hockey League, and was named its Most Outstanding Goaltender in 2012-13.

After bouncing around the ECHL and AHL, he signed an entry-level deal with the Sharks in March 2015. Strong play with their AHL affiliate persuaded the big-league club to re-sign him to a two-year contract in July 2016, and he made his NHL debut last season, ultimately appearing in 20 games.

"Every once in a while I just kind of sit back and reflect on it - 'Wow, it's actually happening,'" Dell said. "It's been my dream since I was 5 years old, so every once in a while I've got to think about it and realize I'm pretty lucky to be here. All of the things that had to fall into place and the opportunities, the chance at the right times."

In part due to his long journey to the NHL, it's evident that his teammates couldn't be happier for him.

"He's a really popular guy in the locker room," defenseman Brenden Dillon said.

Though Dell is exceptionally polite and humble about his stellar season, the skaters in front of him agree his old handle no longer fits.

"I didn't know he had that name. ... He's quiet, does what he has to do and when he's in net we have a lot of confidence in him," Vlasic said. "Solid guy, works hard every day. We have two very good goalies."

Dillon added, "I don't know that's much of a nickname for him anymore. I don't know who gave that one to him. But he's a guy that continues to get better every year, at every level he plays at."

Blue-liner Dylan DeMelo says Dell has some other monikers that the general public may not be privy to.

"He's got like 15 nicknames on the team, all probably from Joe Thornton. That's one of many," DeMelo said. "He's done a great job every time he's been in the net. Yeah, I guess you could say he's not the 'World's Okayest Goalie' anymore."

The Sharks are more than OK defensively too. Entering their game in Toronto, they're one of just four teams in the league that have yet to allow 100 goals, and Dell's made a significant contribution to that accomplishment.

Two years removed from an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, San Jose is hanging tough in the Pacific Division and hoping to return. If Dell helps the Sharks lift their first Cup, maybe people will finally call him something more flattering.

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Anthony Duclair's days with the Arizona Coyotes may be numbered as the 22-year-old has requested a trade, a league source told Craig Custance of The Athletic.

Duclair is having another miserable campaign, having tallied just seven goals and 13 points in 31 games. His struggles have continued from last year, when he put up just five markers and 15 points in 58 contests on the back of a 20-goal, 44-point sophomore season.

Custance notes the Coyotes are doing their best fulfill his wishes. Maybe with a change of scenery Duclair will be able to rekindle his offensive potential.

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The 63rd NHL All-Star Game is set for Jan. 28 in Tampa Bay as the league assembles to showcase its best talents.

The captains of the four divisions were revealed Wednesday:

• Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals, Metropolitan Division
• Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning, Atlantic Division
• P.K. Subban, Nashville Predators, Central Division
• Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers, Pacific Division

Here's how we see the remaining roster spots filling out. As a reminder, at least one player must be selected from each team.

Central Division

• It's a tough race in Dallas, but captain Jamie Benn gets the edge over Tyler Seguin.
• The St. Louis Blues are well-represented with three players: Brayden Schenn, Vladimir Tarasenko, and captain Alex Pietrangelo.
• Devan Dubnyk is the backbone of the Minnesota Wild, and will be relied upon to showcase that same talent with the Central squad.

Pacific Division

• Some surprises highlight the Pacific roster, from Brock Boeser - the sensational rookie from the Vancouver Canucks - to Jonathan Marchessault - a breakout star with the Vegas Golden Knights.
• The Pacific team will have a royal bearing with three Kings: Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, and netminder Jonathan Quick.
• What's an All-Star weekend without Brent Burns? The San Jose Sharks blue-liner has rebounded nicely after a slow start.

Atlantic Division

• With Tampa Bay hosting the All-Star festivities, expect a large number of Lightning players to make the roster. It helps that they're the best team in the league.
• The few remaining spots mean Boston Bruins such as Tuukka Rask and David Pastrnak narrowly miss the cut.
• Meanwhile, Erik Karlsson, Jack Eichel, and Carey Price are the creme of the very poor crop that is the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, and Montreal Canadiens.

Metropolitan Division

• The Metro has been the second-tightest division in the league, leading to a roster that no single team dominates.
• The New York Islanders take the biggest hit as a result. John Tavares clearly gets the nod, but minimal available spots mean Josh Bailey and Anders Lee stay home.
• Philadelphia Flyers forwards Sean Couturier and Jakub Voracek, as well as defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, have certainly played well enough to get the call, but again, there just isn't room.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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