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Bernier's hat trick leads Sharks over Flames

Sep 28, 2006 - 3:55 AM CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- The San Jose Sharks thought enough of Steve Bernier to put him on the playoff roster, even though he played only 11 regular season games last season.

Bernier made a statement about belonging in the NHL, recording a hat trick to lead the Sharks to a 6-3 preseason victory over the Calgary Flames.

The 21-year-old right wing tied the game at 2-2 at 10:20 of the second period and added another tally just 43 seconds later to give the Sharks a 3-2 lead. Center Patrick Marleau set up both goals and finished the game with three assists.

Bernier completed the hat trick when he beat Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff for a 5-3 lead at 10:18 of the third period.

Milan Michalek had a tally and two assists while Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Curtis Brown scored the other goals for San Jose, which went 1-for-3 on the power play.

Kristian Huselius had two goals and Jarome Iginla also scored for the Flames, who were 2-for-8 with the extra skater.

San Jose netminder Evgeni Nabokov, locked in a battle with Vesa Toskala for the starting job, stopped 30 of 33 shots.

Nabokov went 16-19-7 with a 3.10 goals-against average and .885 save percentage last season before yielding to Toskala in the playoffs.

Kiprusoff, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner whose 2.07 GAA led the league in 2005-06, made just 16 saves.