Adrian Kempe scored three times in his return from illness as Los Angeles delivered its biggest win of the season and deepened San Jose’s slide

Los Angeles – NHL SPORTS – Adrian Kempe returned from illness with a hat trick and an assist Wednesday, leading the Los Angeles Kings to a 7-2 win over the San Jose Sharks. The result gave the Kings their largest margin of victory this season and showed what their attack can produce when its top players connect.

Kempe scored 1:23 into the game and added a second goal at 16:09. Quinton Byfield made it 3-0 on the power play before the first intermission. After Macklin Celebrini answered for San Jose, Erik Haula restored the three-goal lead and Kempe completed his fifth NHL hat trick at 15:51 of the second period.

Artemi Panarin finished with four assists, while Byfield scored twice on the power play. Joel Armia also scored for Los Angeles, Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves, and the Kings converted three of five chances with the man advantage. Kempe’s four-point night came after he missed Saturday’s loss to Buffalo because of illness.

The Kings improved to 5-7-2 and have won two of the first three games on a seven-game homestand. San Jose fell to 7-9-1 with its third straight loss and fifth defeat in six games. Celebrini and Ivar Stenberg scored power-play goals for the Sharks, while Yaroslav Askarov stopped 20 shots.

The score also sharpened the pressure on San Jose. The Sharks held a players-only meeting after the game and have been outscored 24-11 over their past six contests. Los Angeles, meanwhile, leaves the night with a needed offensive benchmark and a healthy Kempe back at the centre of it.