LOS ANGELES — The LA Kings certainly remembered the last two times they played the San Jose Sharks before taking them down in an 8-1 blowout on Sunday.
The last-place Sharks had taken down LA in 4-2 and 7-2 results in October and November, respectively, urging the Kings to finally take them seriously.
Los Angeles, coming off a Saturday night loss against Toronto, evened the season series at two, erupting for a season-high eight scores with four in the second period. All but four Kings tallied points and six different LA skaters found the back of the net.
Adrian Kempe finished off a potential sequence of the season as he netted a one-timer off two behind-the-back passes from Andrei Kuzmenko and Vladislav Gavrikov to close out the electric second frame. Kempe’s two-goal night brought him to 31 on the year, his third career season with at least 30.
ABSOLUTELY ELECTRIC pic.twitter.com/ET1wzJG1gk
— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 31, 2025
“Hell of a play by those two guys. Open net, I didn’t have to do much there, so great play by them,” Kempe said postgame.
Kuzmenko, still a new King, registered a game-high three points with a goal of his own and two assists, complementing his first-line teammates, Kempe and Anže Kopitar, who each had big nights.
“Playing with the puck, [Kuzmenko] is as equally as dynamic as our top guys out there,” said head coach Jim Hiller postgame. “He’s one of those guys now which is really important. It’s a great acquisition by our management, just a great acquisition.”
The ill-disciplined Sharks surrendered five power plays and the Kings scored on two of them. David Rittich made 22 saves on 23 attempts as rookie forward Cam Lund scored his second career goal for San Jose.
In addition to Kempe, Warren Foegele also recorded a pair of goals. His 22 goals on the season are a career-high.
Talk of Troy reporter Kasey Kazliner was live from Los Angeles to cover the rout and broke down the Kings’ victory on Skate of Thrones, TOT’s LA Kings podcast.