Adrian Kempe hat trick night gave the Los Angeles Kings exactly the reset they needed. Kempe scored three goals and added an assist in a 7-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena, his fifth career NHL hat trick and first since the 2022-23 season. Quinton Byfield scored twice, Artemi Panarin piled up four assists and Darcy Kuemper stopped 30 shots as the Kings improved to 5-7-2. Next up: the Pittsburgh Penguins (5-9-2) on Saturday at 6 p.m. PST, also at Crypto.com Arena, on ESPN+.
Infanity TV’s postgame sit-down with Kempe, above, captures the “confidence boost” he talked about after the hats hit the ice. The Kings needed a clean 60 minutes after nearly coughing up a four-goal lead against Ottawa, and Wednesday delivered it against a Pacific Division rival that entered stuck in a scoring slump.
How the hat trick unfolded
Kempe, back after missing Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Buffalo with an illness, scored 1:23 into the game on a breakaway set up by Panarin. He made it 2-0 at 16:09 of the first with a one-timer from the right circle off Erik Gustafsson’s seam pass. Byfield pushed it to 3-0 on the power play at 18:38, one-timing a Panarin feed from the slot with Kempe picking up the secondary assist.
Macklin Celebrini answered on a Sharks power play early in the second to make it 3-1. Erik Haula restored the three-goal cushion at 11:10, finishing Kenny Connors’ centering pass for Connors’ first NHL point in his third career game. Kempe completed the hat trick at 15:51 of the second, burying Alex Laferriere’s cross-slot feed from the left circle for a 5-1 lead. Joel Armia swept in Haula’s pass at 2:12 of the third, Ivar Stenberg tipped one in off Joel Edmundson on a San Jose power play, and Byfield tipped Panarin’s shot at 14:28 for the 7-2 final.
“Pucks just went in, I think,” 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 about his teammate: “It’s amazing, you know, the skill, the speed, the shot. Like when he’s going, he’s one of the best players in the League.”
Special teams and the Laviolette read
Los Angeles went 3-for-5 on the power play. San Jose went 2-for-6. It was the Kings’ largest margin of victory this season, topping a 5-2 win at Washington on Oct. 20, and it moved them to 2-1 on the seven-game homestand after the wild 6-5 overtime win over Ottawa and the Buffalo loss. Kuemper’s .938 night (30 saves) quieted some of the early goaltending noise around a 4-3-1, .878 start.
“He’s played so well and I feel like he hasn’t really been rewarded,” coach Peter Laviolette said of Kempe. “I think he’s playing strong, he’s getting chances and looks, and the line’s been good. It’s nice to see his contributions pay off on the scoreboard.” Laviolette also liked the early lead: “If you go up 1-0, it gives you a completely different feel.”
Kempe’s 37th career multigoal game moved him alone into ninth in Kings history, past Dustin Brown. The hat trick tied him with Charlie Simmer and Jimmy Carson for ninth on the franchise’s all-time hat-trick list.
Pittsburgh on Saturday
The Penguins are 5-9-2 and 1-6-1 on the road. They lost 6-2 at home to Boston on Thursday. Erik Karlsson leads Pittsburgh with 16 points (three goals, 13 assists). Rickard Rakell has five goals in his last 10 games. Bryan Rust is out long term with a lower-body injury, and Trevor van Riemsdyk, Ryan Graves and Elmer Soderblom are also on the shelf. Evgeni Malkin’s availability has been described as day-to-day in some previews; treat that as unconfirmed until warmups.
For the Kings, Panarin has eight goals and 17 points in 14 games. Kempe has five goals and four assists over his last 10. Brandt Clarke contributed an assist and a plus-3 in 18:12 against San Jose. Kevin Fiala (lower leg) and Mats Zuccarello (upper body) remain week-to-week, with Laviolette reiterating Thursday that Fiala’s timeline has not changed. Alex Turcotte is still listed in some injury reports. Connors’ assist was the bright spot among the young forwards after his midweek recall. Haula’s two-point night and Armia’s finish gave the bottom six real teeth, which Laviolette will want again against a Penguins group that still creates high-danger looks even when the results lag.
Puck drop Saturday is 6 p.m. PST / 9 p.m. ET. It is the first meeting of the season between the clubs. A second date is on the calendar for Dec. 17. Askarov’s .731 night (seven goals on 26 shots) will not be the measuring stick Saturday; stopping Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson and company will be the real test of whether Wednesday’s bounce is truly sticky. The Kings are still just 2-4-0 at home, so stacking wins on this homestand matters more than the final score against a Sharks team that has now lost three straight and five of six. Pittsburgh is also stuck at 12 points, so Saturday is a four-point swing game in the standings even if neither club is yet playing playoff hockey.
Notes and conflicts
- Kempe’s absence. NHL.com said illness. Some earlier notes only said he missed Buffalo. We use illness, per the league recap.
- Fiala. Field Level Media previously mentioned Olympic leg fractures; the team and LA Kings Insider still say week-to-week / lower leg. Cause details beyond that stay unconfirmed here.
- Byfield status. One automated preview listed Byfield as day-to-day after the Sharks game. He played and scored twice Wednesday; treat any new day-to-day tag as unconfirmed without a team update.
- Starting goalie. Kuemper is the logical Saturday starter after 30 saves, but the Kings have not confirmed.
- Hometown Remix. The purple jerseys debuted Wednesday. That is context only, not the hook of this story.
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