Kempe has hat trick, Kings defeat Ducks to clinch 3rd place in Pacific

ANAHEIM -- Adrian Kempe had a hat trick and an assist to help the Los Angeles Kings clinch third place in the Pacific Division with a 5-3 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Thursday.

"He just keeps getting better," Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said of Kempe. "It's a real good sign for him as an individual and us as an organization for a really long time."
Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist, Viktor Arvidsson had three assists, and Joonas Korpisalo made 21 saves for the Kings (47-25-10), who won their regular-season finale and will face the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Troy Terry had a goal and an assist, Max Jones and Trevor Zegras also scored, and John Gibson made 31 saves for the Ducks (23-47-12), who finished their season with a franchise-record 13 straight losses (0-11-2).
"It's been a long year for us, growing pains, but we've got a lot of things that we're excited about in our room," Terry said. "We'll all have a big summer and make sure we're looking to turn things around next year."

Terry scored his 23rd goal of the season off a centering pass from Cam Fowler to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 2:44 of the first period.
Kopitar tied it 1-1 at 16:57 of the first period. Matt Roy took a slap shot from the right point, and Kopitar deflected the puck down by his feet before sweeping it into the net.
Kopitar finished with 74 points (28 goals, 46 assists), the 15th time in the past 16 seasons he has led the Kings in points.
"Fans or media, sometimes coaches and teammates, take [Kopitar] for granted and that's the wrong thing to do," McLellan said.
Kempe scored on a power play to put the Kings ahead 2-1 at 10:15 of the second period. Gibson attempted to stop Kempe's one-timer from the bottom of the right circle, but the puck crossed the goal line on the near side before he could sweep it away as the net was knocked loose. The goal was confirmed on a video review initiated by the NHL Situation Room.
Trevor Moore scored at 11:04 to extend the lead to 3-1. Ducks forward Frank Vatrano turned the puck over at his blue line, and Moore scored off a 2-on-0 break for his 10th goal of the season.
The Ducks cut it to 3-2 at 1:27 of the third on a redirection by Jones in front of the net.
Kempe scored his 40th goal of the season 40 seconds into a two-man advantage to make it 4-2 at 7:26.
Kempe did not score more than 16 goals in his first five seasons with Los Angeles but had 35 last season and 41 this season.
"A couple years ago, I felt like I had a lot of good looks, but I was a pass-first guy," Kempe said. "I figured out if I try to put the puck on net more, it will go in. It was kind of a switch that went off in my head. Coming into last year, I think, was the biggest step I took in terms of volume shooting."

Zegras tied Terry for the Ducks lead with his 23rd goal of the season with a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle to cut it to 4-3 at 14:51.
Kempe scored into an empty net with 1:39 left to complete the hat trick for the 5-3 final.
NOTES:Kempe is the first player for the Kings to score at least 40 goals in a season since Luc Robitallie, who had 44 in the 1993-94 season. Kempe is also the first Los Angeles player with at least 10 multigoal games in a season since Robitaille had 14 in 1992-93. … Kempe extended his point streak against the Ducks to eight games (eight goals, six assists). ... Only Gordie Howe has led his team in points in more seasons (17) than Kopitar, who has 85 points (30 goals, 55 assists) against the Ducks, passing Mike Modano for the most all-time against Anaheim. ... Terry finished the season on a season-high six-game point streak (three goals, five assists). ... Anaheim allowed 338 goals this season, the most in the NHL since the San Jose Sharks allowed 357 in the 1995-96 season.