Dany Heatley bagged his second hat-trick of the season to inspire the Pacific Division-leading San Jose Sharks to a 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday.
Heatley, who was acquired in a trade with the Ottawa Senators in September, took over the NHL lead in goals with 17 while San Jose (15-5-4) improved to 7-0-2 at home.
“We had a good night. [My team] is fun to play with,” Heatley told reporters. “[Joe Thornton] made some great plays. It’s typical of him, he has such great patience … It was a good win for us.”
The Flyers (12-6-1) entered the night having won eight of nine contests but again failed to defeat the Sharks for the first time since 2000.
Claude Giroux scored twice for Philadelphia and Dany Briere gave the visitors a 1-0 lead with a goal 9:16 into the game.
San Jose’s other goals were scored by Manny Malhotra, Ryane Clowe and Patrick Marleau, while Thornton recorded four assists, including the 600th of his career.
“They were really clicking,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said of his unit. “[Heatley and Thornton] have played together enough. That’s the one pair that’s been together from the beginning of the year.”
For Heatley, the hat-trick was the ninth of his career. His first goal came on a tip-in 50 seconds into the second period that gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead. He converted another tip-in at 8:41 in the third and scored his last four minutes later.
Evgeni Nabokov made 26 saves to help San Jose avoid its first three-game losing streak of the year. Philadelphia goaltender Ray Emery, who was signed by the team in the offseason after playing in Russia, had 23 saves.
CANUCKS 5, AVALANCHE 2
In Vancouver, British Columbia, Christian Ehrhoff’s second goal got Vancouver even in the third period, and Henrik Sedin then netted the go-ahead score as the hosts rallied to beat Colorado.
Steve Bernier added another goal — on a slap pass from Ehrhoff — just as the first penalty in a brief 5-on-3 advantage ended with 8:21 left. Mikael Samuelsson scored on a skipping shot from the point less than 2 minutes later.
David Jones and rookie Matt Duchene scored power-play goals for Colorado in the first nine minutes.
CANADIENS 3, CAPITALS 2
In Washington, the Montreal Canadiens withstood a furious comeback to beat Washington.
Travis Moen and Tomas Plekanec scored in a three-minute span early in the second period and Michael Cammalleri added a goal in the third before Washington mounted their challenge.
Montreal led 3-1, but Brendan Morrison scored with 2:32 remaining to pull Washington within a goal. Then Maxim Lapierre was whistled for hooking with 1:52 to play, giving the Capitals a power play through the end of regulation but they could not capitalize.
The Canadiens won despite getting outshot 27-8 over the last two periods.
Washington’s Eric Fehr scored in the first period.
BRUINS 2, SABRES 1, OT
In Buffalo, New York, Patrice Bergeron scored 47 seconds into overtime, lifting the Boston Bruins past Buffalo.
Bergeron won a faceoff and then was in the slot to tip in a shot by Zdeno Chara.
Buffalo outshot Boston 15-6 in the third period and had several good chances to take a lead.
Paul Gaustad scored for Buffalo.
Milan Lucic, who returned to the Boston lineup on Thursday after missing 14 games with a broken finger, scored his first of the season.
PANTHERS 2, RED WINGS 1, OT
In Detroit, Bryan McCabe’s goal 40 seconds into overtime gave Florida a win over Detroit.
Stephen Weiss scored Florida’s other goal and added an assist.
Pavel Datsyuk scored for Detroit.
WILD 3, ISLANDERS 2
In St Paul, Minnesota, Owen Nolan’s goal with 67 seconds remaining, his second of the game, sent struggling Minnesota over the New York Islanders.
The 37-year-old Nolan had been dragged down in front of the Islanders goalie and had just climbed back to his feet when the puck came his way. The goal lifted a team that was winless in its previous four games.
Jon Sim had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who lost in regulation for the first time in six games despite holding a 2-1 lead in the third period. Mikko Koivu tied it for Minnesota on a power play with 13:02 left.
Josh Bailey also scored for New York.
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