Sharks-Blue Jackets: Dany Heatley Nets Hat Trick as San Jose Bests Columbus 6-3

Dany Heatley knows how to impress.

In his first game in San Jose, Heatley instantaneously made everyone forget about the summer.

Heatley netted his first hat trick of the year in his home opener for San Jose, pummeling the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-3 Thursday night.

"It was a great night," the ex-Senator said. "The crowd was great from the introductions on. As a group we played real well tonight, we skated well, forechecked well, and got rewarded for it."

Heatley seemed to be unstoppable in the second period, when two of his three goals occurred. The last tally for the hat trick came in the third period, when the crowd began chanting his name in a suspenseful penalty shot.

Heatley can’t claim all the credit; big center Joe Thornton tied a franchise record by obtaining four assists en route to the victory.

Other goal scorers included Dan Boyle, who netted a goal and added two assists on the night.

This brings San Jose’s record to 2-2-0 on the season, setting Columbus at 2-1-0 (their next game is in Phoenix, which is reportedly sold out at extremely reduced ticket prices).

On the opposite side, Rick Nash, Jason Chimera, and Raffi Torres scored for the Blue Jackets.

The game was briefly tied in the 2-2 before Heatley and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored a pair in the final two minutes of the period to establish a solid lead walking into the third.

Heatley was on the ice for all of San Jose’s goals and assisted on Devin Setoguchi’s goal in the third period.