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SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- The Detroit Red Wings added a trio of big names in the offseason, but it was a holdover who paid dividends on opening night. Brendan Shanahan scored his second shorthanded goal of the game 1:55 into overtime to complete the first hat trick of the NHL season as the Red Wings pulled out a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Detroit general manager Ken Holland bolstered a veteran lineup by signing free agents Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille and acquiring six-time Vezina Trophy winner Dominik Hasek from the Buffalo Sabres. But opening night belonged to Shanahan, who scored in each of the final three periods. The Sharks went on their eighth power play 34 seconds into overtime after Sergei Fedorov was penalized for cross-checking. But goaltender Evgeni Nabokov's clearing attempt caromed off the left boards to Shanahan, who deked the Calder Trophy winner before sliding the puck around Nabokov's right skate to give the Red Wings their third straight win on opening night. It capped Shanahan's 14th career hat trick. "A lucky break for me, a bad break for them," Shanahan said. "The goaltender tried to clear it out of the zone and it hit the seam in the glass and kind of kicked back in the middle. It was a gift, especially since we gave away the lead in the third period and we get a penalty. So we were thinking it was a nice break at the end." "I decided to gamble," Nabokov explained. "I can stop the game, but I can try to get a 4-on-2 situation and we can score the goal. I decided to go around, but it was bad luck. Sometimes it happens. I have no explanation for that. I guess it was the wrong decision." Hasek was solid for most of his Detroit debut and the Red Wings gave him a 3-1 lead on third-period goals by Shanahan and Hull. But a blunder by Hasek triggered San Jose's comeback. After wandering into the right corner, Hasek had barely set himself in the crease when Stephane Matteau banged in a centering pass from Vincent Damphousse with 8:18 left. Less than four minutes later, Todd Harvey got the puck off a faceoff, faked a pass to the point and was able to drift to the left dot, where he ripped a slap shot past Hasek. "I think they said, 'Harvey's got the puck. We'll leave him alone and not worry about him,'" Harvey joked. "But the guy went away from me and I had a clear lane to the net, so I just took the shot." "They had two chances and they scored two goals in the third period. I cannot say I made some big mistakes, but they had four shots and they scored two goals, and that's too many," Hasek said. "First game out of the way. ... We almost lost the lead. It was 3-1 in the third period. It's not acceptable for the team we are." Scott Thornton had the other goal for the Sharks, who are winless in their last five home games against the Red Wings (0-3-1-1). San Jose has won just two of 10 season openers. "They have the most skilled guys in the league right now. You can see they start shooting from everywhere and they crash the net," Nabokov said. "They're real dangerous up front." Thornton broke a scoreless tie with a power-play tally 8:41 into the second period. Mike Ricci slid a cross-ice pass to Thornton, who beat Hasek with a one-timer from the right faceoff circle. Shanahan tied it six minutes later with his first shorthanded goal, finishing off a 2-on-1 with Fedorov. He struck again 49 seconds into the third period to put the Red Wings in front and Hull made it 3-1 at 5:35 with his 650th goal. "I like the way we battled back in the third with a team like that," Harvey said. "They get a couple-goal lead, they're good at shutting teams down. But we battled back. A bad bounce at the end. That's happens when you're 4-on-4, but it's the first game. We'll take it for what it is, move on and concentrate on Saturday."
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