Oilers 4, Stars 1
Captain Shawn Horcoff returned from a two-game absence with a goal and two assists and Nikolai Khabibulin snapped a 14-game losing skid as the Edmonton Oilers recorded a 4-1 triumph over the visiting Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
Rookie Jordan Eberle scored to secure his seventh point in as many games and defenseman Taylor Chorney netted his first career NHL goal as lowly Edmonton (17-32-8) prevented Dallas (31-20-6) from reclaiming first place in the Pacific Division.
Sidelined briefly due to a bout of bronchitis, Horcoff assisted on Chorney's power-play goal at 7:40 of the second period before netting his own man-advantage tally with 1:50 remaining in the session.
Horcoff then assisted on Ales Hemsky's 10th goal of the season just 28 seconds into the third period to essentially seal the win.
Khabibulin made the offensive outburst stand up by turning aside 24 shots to post his first victory since a 6-3 triumph over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 16.
All-Star Loui Eriksson collected his 19th goal of the campaign for Dallas, which fell for the sixth time in its last seven games. With the loss, the Stars failed to move past the idle Phoenix Coyotes (30-19-9) for the top spot in the Pacific Division.
Kari Lehtonen turned aside 26 shots to fall to 1-5-1 since defeating the Oilers on Jan. 26.