SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - Dany Heatley bagged his second hat-trick of the season to inspire the Pacific Division-leading San Jose Sharks to a 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday.

Heatley, who was acquired in a trade with the Ottawa Senators in September, took over the NHL lead in goals with 17 while San Jose (15-5-4) improved to 7-0-2 at home.

"We had a good night. (My team) is fun to play with," Heatley told reporters. "(Joe Thornton) made some great plays. It's typical of him, he has such great patience.

"It was a good win for us."

The Flyers (12-6-1) entered the night having won eight of nine contests but again failed to defeat the Sharks for the first time since 2000.

Claude Giroux scored twice for Philadelphia and Dany Briere gave the visitors a 1-0 lead with a goal 9:16 into the game.

San Jose's other goals were scored by Manny Malhotra, Ryane Clowe and Patrick Marleau, while Thornton recorded four assists, including the 600th of his career.

"They were really clicking," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said of his unit. "(Heatley and Thornton) have played together enough. That's the one pair that's been together from the beginning of the year."

For Heatley, the hat-trick was the ninth of his career. His first goal came on a tip-in 50 seconds into the second period that gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead. He converted another tip-in at 8:41 in the third and scored his last four minutes later.

Evgeni Nabokov made 26 saves to help San Jose avoid its first three-game losing streak of the year. Philadelphia goaltender Ray Emery, who was signed by the team in the offseason after playing in Russia, had 23 saves.

(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by John O'Brien; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)