Adrian Kempe Hat Trick Lifts Kings Past Sharks 7-2

Adrian Kempe scored three goals and added an assist in his return, and the Los Angeles Kings rolled the San Jose Sharks 7-2 on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena. It was Kempe's fifth NHL hat trick, and it came one game after he missed Saturday's loss to Buffalo with illness.

Quinton Byfield scored twice on the power play, Artemi Panarin piled up four assists, and Darcy Kuemper stopped 30 shots as the Kings (5-7-2) won for the second time in three games to open a seven-game homestand. San Jose fell to 7-9-1 and has lost three straight.

Kempe Needed No Warm-Up

Kempe buried a wrist shot from the slot on a breakaway 1:23 in, then one-timed Erik Gustafsson's pass from the right circle at 16:09 for a 2-0 lead. Byfield made it 3-0 at 18:38, finishing Panarin's feed with Kempe picking up the secondary assist. The Kings scored with the man advantage for a third straight game.

"Pucks just went in," Kempe said. "Another game, a lot of chances, and tonight they went in early and then often, so that was nice." Byfield was more blunt: when Kempe is going, "he's one of the best players in the League."

Sharks Answered Once, Then Got Buried

Macklin Celebrini cut it to 3-1 at 5:07 of the second with his sixth goal, a power-play wrister through traffic. Erik Haula restored the three-goal cushion at 11:10 off Kenny Connors' first NHL point, a centering pass. Kempe completed the hat trick at 15:51, one-timing Alex Laferriere's cross-slot feed from the left circle for 5-1.

Joel Armia swept in Haula's pass early in the third for 6-1. Ivar Stenberg's power-play shot deflected in off Joel Edmundson at 9:41 to make it 6-2, before Byfield tipped another Panarin shot at 14:28 for the 7-2 final. Los Angeles went 3-for-5 on the power play. San Jose went 2-for-6. Yaroslav Askarov finished with 20 saves.

Homestand Momentum

It was the Kings' largest margin of victory this season, topping a 5-2 win at Washington on Oct. 20. Coach Peter Laviolette credited two strong practice days and an attack that "just took it right into the game." Kempe moved into a tie for ninth in Kings history in hat tricks and into sole possession of ninth in multigoal games.

San Jose held a players-only meeting after getting outscored 24-11 over its last six games. "We're just a little off," coach Ryan Warsofsky said.

Smacktok pick lean: Lean higher on Kempe's shot volume in the next home game. He generated chances even in the Buffalo loss he missed, and Wednesday they finally went in.

A 7-2 night with Kempe back is the kind of reset this Kings homestand needed.