NHL: Oilers out of basement with win over Canucks

Shawn Horcoff’s shootout goal lifted the host Edmonton Oilers out of the Western Conference basement with a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.

Horcoff, Tom Gilbert, Marty Reasoner and Dustin Penner scored in regulation as Edmonton snapped a two-game losing streak.

Alexandre Burrows, Brad Isbister, Alexander Edler and Markus Naslund had goals for Vancouver.

The win kicked off a crucial six-game homestand for Edmonton, which moved one point ahead of Phoenix and out of last in the West.

Bruins 4, Maple Leafs 2: Chuck Kobasew scored with 3:31 left in the third period, lifting Boston to a comeback win over host Toronto.

Kobasew stepped into the slot and ripped a wrist shot past Vesa Toskala on the stick side, giving Boston a 3-2 lead and stunning the home crowd.

Kobasew capped the win with an empty-net goal 26.7 seconds from the end.

P.J. Axelsson and Phil Kessel also scored for the Bruins.

Flames 4, Avalanche 1: Owen Nolan scored twice, including an empty-net goal, to lead host Calgary to its first win of the season over Colorado.

The Flames, who got the win despite mustering only 15 shots on goalie Jose Theodore, had lost three previous meetings this season to their Northwest Division rivals.

Slap shots

Minnesota will be without two of its top scorers, Pavol Demitra and Mikko Koivu, for today’s game against rival Vancouver. … John McDonough resigned as president of the Chicago Cubs to take a similar position with the Chicago Blackhawks, who offered him a multiyear contract he couldn’t refuse. … The Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks signed Ryan Getzlaf to a five-year extension worth $26.625 million that begins next season and runs through 2012-13. The 22-year-old center has seven goals and 14 assists in 19 games this season.