Sharks 9, Rangers 2: Tomas Hertl put on a clinic by scoring four goals and fellow rookie Matt Nieto recorded a tally and two assists as San Jose completed a perfect season-opening three-game homestand.

Logan Couture and defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Dan Boyle and Justin Braun also scored while Joe Pavelski and blue-liner Jason Demers each notched three assists for the Sharks, who play eight of their next 10 games on the road. Antti Niemi turned aside 18 shots.

Brad Richards and Derek Dorsett scored for the Rangers, who fell to 1-2-0 on their season-opening nine-game road trip. New York played the final two periods without Rick Nash, who was elbowed in the head by Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart late in the first session and did not return.

Richards broke through during an early two-man advantage, beating a screened Niemi from the top of the right faceoff circle for his third goal in two games. But the Sharks went on to score the next six goals, including a short-handed tally by Vlasic 56 seconds later and a blast from the right point by Boyle at 7:56 that put San Jose ahead for good.

The Sharks put away the game in the second period with four goals in a 4:16 span. Nieto started the outburst at 8:16, beating Henrik Lundqvist from the slot for his first NHL tally, and Hertl began his tremendous performance 63 seconds later by converting Andrew Desjardins' backhand pass from the right corner.

That ended the night for Lundqvist, who gave way to Martin Biron after making 22 saves. It took San Jose only 20 seconds to get to Biron, as Couture batted in the puck from the crease after Patrick Marleau's shot went wide, caromed off the end boards and popped over the back of the net.

Hertl capped the spurt by scoring on a breakaway and completed his first hat trick with a power-play goal at 9:02 of the third. Just 3:03 later, Hertl sent the home crowd into a frenzy with a highlight-reel tally, racing in alone from the left wing and putting his stick between his legs before lifting the puck past Biron.

GAME NOTEBOOK: With four goals, Hertl matched the franchise single-game record set by Owen Nolan in 1995. The 19-year-old Czech has scored six times in his last two games. ... Braun completed the scoring with a man-advantage tally at 15:53 of the third period as the Sharks finished 2-for-3 on the power play. ... Biron finished with 16 saves. ... Richards has three goals in as many games after scoring only a career-low 11 in 46 contests last season.