CALGARY, Alberta, March 17, 2018 (AP) - It took Evander Kane until his 565th game to get his first NHL hat trick. Then he added another goal for good measure. Kane scored four times to lead the San Jose Sharks past the Calgary Flames 7-4 Friday night, a huge performance by a player who was acquired at the Feb. 26 trade deadline. "It's nice to get that monkey off my back," said Kane, sent from Buffalo to San Jose for forward Danny O'Regan and draft picks. "It's been a long time since I've scored a hat trick. That was great. It made it even better, obviously, in a big game, an important game." Tomas Hertl had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who have won three straight and four of five. Kevin Lebanc and Eric Fehr also scored, and Martin Jones made 30 saves. San Jose is second in the Pacific Division, three points in front of Los Angeles and Anaheim. Joe Pavelski, who set up Kane's fourth goal 62 seconds into the third period, was happy to see his new teammate come through in the clutch. "It's always a special night when someone can score three, and for him to get that fourth is pretty cool to see," 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." Micheal Ferland had a goal and an assist for the Flames, who are four points out of a playoff spot. Troy Brouwer, Mark Jankowski and Johnny Gaudreau also scored for Calgary. "We had a few leads in the second and those are times when you want to put your foot on the pedal and get the next one," forward Mark Stajan said. "We weren't able to do that." 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.
