Kempe scores 4 straight goals, Kings blank Penguins

LOS ANGELES --Adrian Kempe scored four straight goals for the Los Angeles Kings in a 6-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

Kempe is the first Kings player to score four goals in a game since Dustin Brown, who had his
No. 23 retired and a statue unveiled
in his honor before the game. Brown scored four goals against the Minnesota Wild on April 5, 2018.
"One of those nights when the puck keeps coming to you, and I think I had chances for five, six too, so yeah, just one of those nights," Kempe said.
Anze Kopitar had three assists for the Kings (29-18-7), who were playing their first game since Jan. 31. Pheonix Copley made 25 saves for his first shutout since Dec. 22, 2018, when he played for the Washington Capitals.
"I think that after watching the Dustin Brown ceremony and having the Stanley Cup come out, if you didn't have a spark to play already, it put a little more into the game," Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. "The guys played well. They were rested, they were fresh, executed well and did some of the things we didn't do in Pittsburgh (a 6-1 loss on Oct. 20)."

Casey DeSmith allowed three goals on 15 shots before being pulled for the Penguins (26-17-9), who were playing the second game of a back-to-back following a 6-3 win at the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. Dustin Tokarski made 13 saves in relief.
Kempe put Los Angeles ahead 3-0 at 1:58 of the second period, scoring off the post from the left circle after Kopitar got to a rebound in front.
"Although we made good decisions for the most part, we come out on the wrong side of the score," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "They got that third goal early in the second, and it was tough to overcome that."
Kempe made it 4-0 at 5:18 when he beat Tokarski blocker side from the right circle off a return pass from Kopitar.
Kempe then completed his third NHL hat trick to extend the lead to 5-0 at 14:27. He scored a power-play goal near the right post after Kopitar's backdoor pass deflected to him off the skate of Jeff Petry.
Kempe is the first Kings player to score three goals in a period since Brown did it against the Wild on March 7, 2020.
"It was a special night for [Brown] and for us as well, so we're happy that we got the win for him," Kempe said.
Kempe scored his fourth goal of the game as a 5-on-3 power play expired to make it 6-0 at 15:09 of the third.
"Obviously, expectations go up after last year (scored NHL career-high 35 goals), not only for myself but as a team, and I think we've been getting better and better throughout the year," Kempe said. "We got to keep this going for the last 28 games, and then the fun things start after that, and that's where you got to be good. It's important to keep my scoring up as much as I can."

Jaret Anderson-Dolan gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 2:28 of the first period when he redirected Alexander Edler's shot from the left point.
Alex Iafallo pushed it to 2-0 at 17:47 with a quick shot that snuck under the right arm of DeSmith.
"I thought we had a decent start," Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. "It came down to giving up too many good chances. Once you get down, it is hard to get back."
NOTES: Kempe is the seventh player in the past 30 years to score four straight goals, joining David Backes (Jan. 6, 2015), Ilya Kovalchuk (Nov. 11, 2005), Dany Heatley (Oct. 29, 2005), Patrik Elias (March 30, 2003), Wendel Clark (Nov. 9, 1996) and Peter Bondra (Feb. 5, 1994). … Kings forwards Kevin Fiala and Rasmus Kupari, and defenseman Drew Doughty each had two assists. … Copley is 16-3-1 this season, tying his career high for wins he set with the Capitals in 2018-19.