Alex Laferriere scored his first NHL hat trick as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Anaheim Ducks 6-1 at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.
Anze Kopitar contributed three assists, while Quinton Byfield added a goal and an assist for the Kings, who had not scored more than two goals in any of their previous seven games. Drew Doughty and Trevor Moore also found the net for Los Angeles. Anton Forsberg made 24 saves in goal.
For Anaheim, Mason McTavish scored the team’s only goal, with Lukas Dostal making 24 saves. The Ducks have now lost six of their last eight games.
Los Angeles established control early by scoring four unanswered goals in the first period. Doughty opened the scoring at 3:03 after a 2-on-1 rush initiated by Corey Perry, with Byfield assisting on a backhand shot near the crease. Moore doubled the lead less than a minute later when Brian Dumoulin’s centering pass deflected off multiple players before going in off Moore’s skate.
Laferriere extended the lead to 3-0 midway through the period with a one-timer from the slot following a pass from Adrian Kempe. This came shortly after Forsberg stopped Cutter Gauthier on a breakaway attempt. Byfield then redirected Brandt Clarke’s wrist shot during a power play late in the first period to make it 4-0, marking his first goal in 18 games.
McTavish put Anaheim on the board with a power-play goal at 10:04 of the second period by finishing Beckett Sennecke’s sharp-angle attempt that slid across the post.
In the third period, Laferriere scored twice more—first chasing down Dumoulin’s stretch pass for a breakaway backhand finish, then completing his hat trick with a long one-timer through traffic at 13:15 to secure Los Angeles’ win.
