LOS ANGELES – Adrian Kempe needed only 83 seconds to put the San Jose Sharks on the back foot. By the end of his return to the lineup, the Los Angeles Kings had their most emphatic win of the season and the visitors had a players-only meeting to address another defeat.
Kempe scored three goals and added an assist as Los Angeles beat San Jose 7-2 at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday. Artemi Panarin supplied four assists, Quinton Byfield scored twice and Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves. The Kings improved to 5-7-2, winning for the second time in the opening three games of a seven-game homestand.
The result left the Sharks at 7-9-1 after their third consecutive loss and fifth in six games. Their response behind closed doors gave the rout a consequence beyond the standings. San Jose had spent another evening trying to recover from a first period that effectively handed control to its opponent.
“It’s unacceptable. It’s not good enough. To a man, to a team. It’s not on the coaches right now,” Sharks forward Kiefer Sherwood said in NHL.com’s report on the meeting. “We’re not winning our battles, we’re not being hard to play against, we’re not making plays.”
Kempe, back after missing Saturday’s loss to Buffalo, scored on an early breakaway and added his second goal at 16:09 of the first period. Byfield made it 3-0 with 1:22 remaining before intermission. Los Angeles had established its advantage before San Jose could put a goal on the board.
The Kings’ power play gave that early edge staying power. Los Angeles converted three of five opportunities, punishing San Jose often enough that its own two power-play goals never brought the game back within reach. Both Sharks goals came with the man advantage.
Macklin Celebrini cut the deficit to 3-1 at 5:07 of the second period. The opening did not last. Haula restored the three-goal margin at 11:10, and Kempe completed his hat trick at 15:51 to send Los Angeles into the second intermission ahead 5-1.
That third goal was Kempe’s fifth NHL hat trick, moving him alongside Charlie Simmer and Jimmy Carson for ninth in Kings history, the league’s recap noted. It was also a forceful return for a forward whose absence had been felt in the previous game’s 3-2 defeat.
Armia extended the lead early in the third period. Ivar Stenberg later scored San Jose’s second goal before Byfield completed the scoring. Yaroslav Askarov finished with 20 saves for the Sharks, while defenseman Eric Pohlkamp made his NHL debut.
For the San Jose Sharks, the meeting reflected frustration with more than one scoreline. NHL.com reported that the team ranked 28th in goals per game at 2.53 and was tied for 27th in goals allowed per game at 3.53. Wednesday exposed both problems at once: too little scoring at even strength and too many openings for the opposition.
Celebrini declined to disclose what was said in the meeting. Coach Ryan Warsofsky welcomed the initiative from his leaders, saying it showed the team had leadership and that everyone was frustrated. Neither suggested the discussion itself would repair the results.
San Jose visits Minnesota on Friday and Dallas on Saturday to finish its road trip. Los Angeles hosts Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Kings have room to build on a decisive night at home; the Sharks have little time to turn a private conversation into a better performance.
