LOS ANGELES –– The Kings hadn’t lost a game that recently retired winger Dustin Brown attended all season, and they were certainly not about to snap that streak Saturday when his number ascended among those of his hallowed predecessors before the Kings eviscerated the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-0 at Crypto.com Arena.
After a rousing ceremony, a statue unveil and a surprise appearance by Lord Stanley’s Cup, winger Adrian Kempe extended his team-leading goal total to 26 by way of a natural hat trick and his first ever four-goal game, the first in franchise history since Brown did it on April 5, 2018. Kempe was the first King ever to pot four straight goals in a game.
“After watching the Dustin Brown ceremony and having the Stanley Cup come out, that puts a little, if you didn’t have a spark to play already, it put a little more into the game; the guys played well,” Coach Todd McLellan said after his group flipped the script against a team that beat them 6-1 in October.
Wingers Alex Iafallo and Jaret Anderson-Dolan also found the net for the Kings. Forward Rasmus Kupari, winger Kevin Fiala and defenseman Drew Doughty contributed two assists apiece, while center Anze Kopitar had three. Pheonix Copley earned his 16th victory and first shutout of the season by stopping 25 shots. Wingers Trevor Moore and Arthur Kaliyev also returned to action, emerging from the all-star break having recovered from injuries.
Pittsburgh’s Casey DeSmith started for the second straight night in lieu of the injured Tristan Jarry, but was relieved by Dustin Tokarski. They followed a 6-3 victory over the Ducks Friday with a disastrous 25-for-31 night in net during a game that was academic by its halfway point, not unlike the Kings’ clinching game of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final.
Kempe piled on another marker during a two-man advantage off a one-timer from the right circle with 4:51 to play, his second power-play goal of the night.
“It was one of those games where everything…
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