By Morris Phillips

SAN JOSE–NHL players don’t like heavy-handed opponents, over-officious officials, multiple-game suspensions or bad vibes.

But NHL players do like hat tricks. Just ask Evander Kane.

Kane saw his start to the 2019-20 season go from frustrating to exhilarating Wednesday as he produced the first, first period hat trick in San Jose history propelling the Sharks to a 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. After four losses to start the season, the Sharks have a three-game winning streak, virtually erasing the doom-and-gloom enveloping the Shark Tank, a byproduct of their 0-4 start.

Kane personally ushered out the rough start, by redirecting Brett Burns’ pass into the net with 17 seconds remaining in the opening period. That secured his second-ever, three-goal game and put the Sharks in front, 3-1.

“Establishing our home ice here, especially with some of the days in between games was important. And getting leads early. That’s something we didn’t do when we lost four in a row. And playing with the lead and keeping it,” Kane said when asked about the team’s improvement over the last three games.

Kane missed the first three Sharks’ losses after he was suspended for bumping an official in the team’s final exhibition against the Golden Knights. Video of the incident shows Kane’s anger at the Knights’ Deryk Engelland accidentally morph into a brief push of referee Kiel Murchison as the winger attempted to free himself of Engelland and the intervening referee. By the strict interpretation of the NHL rule regarding contact with officials, Kane was guilty and the incident cost him $112,000 in salary.

“Talk about abuse of an official? How about abuse of a player? It’s an absolute joke,” Kane said.

Things were much more palatable Wednesday as Kane found himself the beneficiary of some nice setups near the goal, the final two on the power play, and the last a near perfect redirection of the puck to beat goalie James Reimer. Ironically, the Hurricanes hadn’t allowed more than three goals in a game all season before allowing Kane three in one period.

“The guys did a great job of getting pucks to the net,” said Kane unselfishly. “Our power play executed. It was nice to get it at home.”

The victory allowed the Sharks to escape the Pacific Division cellar as they leapfrogged the Coyotes and Kings. The Hurricanes failed to reach a 7-1 start for the first time in franchise history, but retained first place in the  Metropolitan Division at 6-2.

The schedule doesn’t ease for the Sharks, who host the first place Buffalo Sabres on Saturday before they open a four-game Eastern swing in Buffalo on Tuesday.