Adrian Kempe notched his fifth NHL hat trick to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 7-2 win over the visiting San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night.
Kempe also had an assist for the Kings, who are 5-3-0 in their past eight games after starting the season 0-4-2.
Quinton Byfield scored two of Los Angeles’ three power-play goals, Artemi Panarin had four assists, Erik Haula had a goal and an assist, and Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves.
Macklin Celebrini and Ivar Stenberg scored power-play goals, Dmitry Orlov and Michael Misa each had two assists, and Yaroslav Askarov made 20 saves for the Sharks, who have lost five of their past six games (1-5-0).
Kempe, who missed a 3-2 loss to the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Saturday with an undisclosed injury, made his presence known early, scoring on a breakaway to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead at 1:23 of the first period.
Kempe made it 2-0 at 16:09 with a one-timer from the right circle.
Tyler Toffoli was whistled for tripping Joel Armia at 17:19 of the first period, and the Kings capitalized on the power play when Byfield found space in the slot and scored on a one-timer to make it 3-0 at 18:38.
Celebrini ended a six-game goalless drought, scoring with a snap shot from above the left hash marks on a power play to cut the deficit to 3-1 at 5:07 of the second period.
Haula lifted a backhand into the net from in front of the crease at 11:10 to restore the Kings’ three-goal lead.
Kempe completed the hat trick at 15:51 of the second with another one-timer from the bottom of the right circle to make it 5-1.
Armia redirected the puck into the net from in front of the crease at 2:12 of the third period to extend the lead to 6-1.
San Jose scored another power-play goal when Stenberg’s shot from the right circle squeezed through Kuemper, cutting the deficit to 6-2 at 9:41. Byfield answered with a power-play deflection at 14:28 to complete the scoring.
