Adrian Kempe scores a hat trick as the Kings beat the Sharks 7-2

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Adrian Kempe had a hat trick and an assist, Quinton Byfield scored two goals, and the Los Angeles Kings routed the San Jose Sharks 7-2 on Wednesday night.

Erik Haula and Joel Armia also scored for the Kings and Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves. Artemi Panarin had four assists.

It was the 37th multigoal game Kempe has had with the Kings, moving him past Dustin Brown for sole possession of ninth place in the history of the franchise. Kempe returned to the lineup after missing a 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday because of an undisclosed injury.

Macklin Celebrini and Ivar Stenberg scored power-play goals and Yaroslav Askarov made 20 saves for the Sharks, who have now lost three games in a row. Erik Gustafsson assisted on both goals.

Kempe scored his first goal just 1:23 into the game and added a second later in the first period as the Kings jumped to a 3-0 lead after one. Kempe completed the hat trick with a power-play goal with 4:09 left in the second period. The Kings were 3 for 5 on the power play in the game.

The game marked the NHL debut for San Jose defenseman Eric Pohlkamp, called up from the AHL before the game.

Up next

Sharks: Visit the Minnesota Wild on Friday night.

Kings: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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See AP’s full NHL coverage here