Kane scores four goals in Sharks win against Flames

CALGARY -- Evander Kane scored four goals to help the San Jose Sharks strengthen their hold on second place in the Pacific Division with a 7-4 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday.
Kane, acquired in a trade from the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 26, scored his first NHL hat trick and became the fourth player in San Jose history to score four goals in a game. The most recent was Patrick Marleau in a 5-2 win at the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 23, 2017.

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"It's always a special night when someone can score three, and for him to get that fourth is pretty cool to see," Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. "He's definitely made a huge impact on us as a team and on his teammates. He's been one of the guys driving the bus here for the last week or two. He came through big for us tonight."

Kevin Labanc, Tomas Hertl and Eric Fehr scored, and Martin Jones made 30 saves for the Sharks (39-23-9), who have won three games in a row and lead the third-place Los Angeles Kings by three points. San Jose is eight points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first.
"Huge game," Kane said. "We pushed them down a little bit and pushed ourselves up. We're fighting in a tough division and a tough conference. L.A. and Anaheim are right there. Every point matters."
Troy Brouwer, Mark Jankowski, Johnny Gaudreau and Micheal Ferland scored, and Mike Smith made 14 saves for Calgary (35-27-10), who trail the Dallas Stars by four points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"Just stick with the process," Smith said. "You can't just go out and win games. You've got to just worry about what you can control and take it one game at a time."

Kane scored his third goal of the game at 16:32 of the second period to give San Jose a 4-3 lead. His 27 two-goal games in the NHL had been the most by any active player who had no career hat tricks.
"I've been reminded of that for a while," Kane said. "It's great to be able to get the third, and especially in a real important game. We were trading goals with them, especially in the first two periods. It was great. The guys were awesome. It's pretty special."
Hertl scored 1:30 later to make it 5-3, and Kane put San Jose up 6-3 at 1:02 of the third period with his 25th goal of the season. David Rittich, who made seven saves, relieved Smith after the goal.

"It was one of those nights where pucks were hitting things, going in," Smith said. "A couple bad breaks there. It was definitely an off night and a tough one to swallow right now."
Ferland made it 6-4 at 14:25, and Fehr scored into an empty net at 16:02 for a 7-4 advantage.
Kane put San Jose up 1-0 six minutes into the first period, and Brouwer tied the game 1-1 at 16:42.
Jankowski scored 2:10 into the second period to make it 2-1, and Kane tipped a shot by Smith to tie it 2-2 at 6:29.
Gaudreau stick-handled off the boards and into the slot before shooting by Jones at 10:16 to put Calgary up 3-2, but Labanc scored 1:26 later to tie the game 3-3 at 11:42.

Goal of the game

Kane's goal at 1:02 of the third period.

Save of the game

Jones stopping Jankowski at 4:34 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Gaudreau's goal at 10:16 of the second period.

They said it

"Just that separation is important. We knew they would come out, desperate team, and we wanted to match that. That was some of our talk. Guys did a good job of weathering the storm, getting off to a lead. Once they came, nobody really quit." -- Sharks captain Joe Pavelski
"We gave them too many, I felt like, easy goals tonight. Just the little things again that comes back to bite you. We're giving them momentum with back-door tap-ins … pucks that should never be in our zone and are in our zone. That's what it felt like tonight." -- Flames captain Mark Giordano

Need to know

Kane has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in eight games since being acquired by the Sharks. … San Jose forward Chris Tierney got his 100th NHL point with his assist on Kane's third goal. … Gaudreau extended his point streak to six games. He has eight points (three goals, five assists) in the run. … San Jose forward Joonas Donskoi did not play because of an upper-body injury. … Calgary forward Matthew Tkachuk missed his second straight game because of an upper-body injury. … Flames forward Kris Versteeg returned to the lineup after missing 49 games because of a hip injury. He was held without a point and did not have a shot on goal in 11:01.

What's next

Sharks: At the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)
Flames: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday (4 p.m. ET; SN360, SNE, SNO, SNP, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)