LOS ANGELES—Adrian Kempe had his first four-goal game and completed Los Angeles’ first natural hat trick in nearly 10 years, Pheonix Copley got his second career shutout and the Kings rolled to a 6–0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
On a night the Kings retired the No. 23 jersey and unveiled a statue of Dustin Brown, Kempe did two things that were last accomplished by their former long time captain, who led the team to two Stanley Cup titles.
Before Kempe, Brown was the last Kings’ skater to have four goals in a game and three goals in a single period.
Anze Kopitar had three assists for the Kings, who were playing their first game since Jan. 31. Los Angeles also got goals from Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Alex Iafallo while Rasmus Kupari, Kevin Fiala and Drew Doughty each added two assists.
Copley, who signed a $1.5-million, one-year extension on Friday, stopped 25 shots for his first shutout with the Kings. Copley’s last shutout was with Washington in 2018.
Casey DeSmith allowed three goals in 18 shots before being pulled early in the second. Dustin Tokarski gave up three goals in 16 shots for the Penguins, who had 59 shots on goal in Friday night’s 6–3 victory over Anaheim.
Kempe had all three goals during the second period, making him the first Los Angeles skater since Jeff Carter on March 4, 2013, against Nashville to have a natural hat trick. Ironically, Carter was on the ice Saturday with the Penguins.
Kempe, who leads the Kings with 26 goals, had his hat trick during a 13-minute span. He gave Los Angeles a 3–0 lead 1:58 into the second period when he beat DeSmith on his glove side with a shot from the left faceoff circle.
At 5:18, Kempe took a cross-ice pass from Kopitar and put in a snap shot that went under Tolarski’s blocker. Kempe then completed his third career hat trick at 14:27 on the power play when he put in a loose puck in front of the net.
Frustrated Crosby
Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby not only saw his nine-game points streak snapped, but he picked up a game misconduct midway through the third period following an altercation with Anderson-Dolan near the Kings’ net.Double Naturals
According to the NHL, Saturday marked the fourth time in the last decade there has been two natural hat tricks the same day. Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers did it as part of his four-goal outing in a 6–2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.Up Next
Penguins: At San Jose Sharks Tuesday night.Kings: Host Buffalo Sabres Monday night.
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