CALGARY — Evander Kane had his first career four-goal game to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 7-4 win over the Calgary Flames on Friday.
Tomas Hertl had a goal and an assist for the Sharks (39-23-9), who have won three straight games and four of their past five. Kevin Lebanc and Eric Fehr also scored.
Goalie Martin Jones made 30 saves to improve his record to 25-18-6.
Micheal Ferland had a goal and an assist for the Flames (35-27-10), who are four points behind the Dallas Stars (38-26-8) for the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Troy Brouwer, Mark Jankowski and Johnny Gaudreau also scored for Calgary.
Three nights after stopping all 28 shots he faced against the Oilers, Calgary goalie Mike Smith had a rough outing as he made just 14 saves before being replaced by David Rittich early in the third period. Rittich went on to stop all seven shots he faced in a relief appearance.
The Sharks opened the scoring six minutes into the first period when Kane’s wrist shot from just inside beat Smith to the glove side.
The Flames pulled even at 16:42 when Brouwer chipped a pass from Curtis Lazar into the top corner behind Jones. Matt Stajan stole the puck from Sharks defenceman Brenden Dillon behind the San Jose net to get the play started.
Jankowski took a pass from linemate Garnet Hathaway and wired a shot to the top corner, glove side behind Jones to put Calgary up 2-1 at 2:10 of the second period.
Kane then redirected Brenden Dillon’s point shot past Smith at 6:29 before Gaudreau cut into the slot and snapping a shot past Jones at 10:16 to put Calgary back up by a goal.
That lead lasted just 1:26 as Lebanc fired a shot from a sharp angle into the top corner past Smith to pull the Sharks into a 3-3 tie.
Kane completed his hat trick at 16:32 when he swatted in his own rebound before Hertl poked the puck through Smith’s legs with 1:58 remaining before the second intermission.
The Sharks added an insurance goal 62 seconds into the third when Kane redirected a pass from Joe Pavelski past Smith.
Ferland backhanded a shot past Jones to pull Calgary within two goals with 5:35 left in regulation and Rittich on the bench for an extra attacker before Fehr rounded out the scoring with an empty-net goal 1:37 later.
Notes: Prior to Friday’s game, Kane had never had an NHL hat trick. … Jankowski suited up for the Flames after sitting out Tuesday’s 1-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers, while fellow forward Kris Versteeg made his return to Calgary’s lineup after missing the past 49 games with a hip injury. … Gaudreau extended his point scoring streak to six games, during which time he has scored three goals and added five assists.