The Phoenix Coyotes defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 as Lee Stempniak scored three goals to complete his first NHL hat trick.
Stempniak scored his first goal of the season at 4:30 of the first period by redirecting Ed Jovanovski's hit from the right point towards goalie Jonathan Quick. His attacks kept on coming as he scored his second goal at 7:24, capitalizing on a rebound of Taylor Pyatt's shot from the bottom of the left circle and dodging it nicely over Quick's shoulder.
Andrew Ebbett scored the third goal at 5:49 of the second, taking the lead to 3-0, by assaulting the Kings zone on the right side of a 2-on-1 break and aiming for the space between Quick's pads. Wayne Simmonds of the Lakers was finally able to snap goalie Ilya Bryzgalov's shutout bid at 8:20 of the second when he backhanded a shot over the goalie.
He went on to slash the Coyotes' lead by scoring one with just 2:41 left in the game, using a rebound after he received Brad Richardson's shot outside the crease. Unfortunately for the Kings, Stempniak was still around and he hit a perfect empty-net goal from center ice with just 34.6 seconds remaining in the game. Ed Jovanovski of the Coyotes had three assists for his team.
Kings defenseman Drew Doughty did not participate as he had suffered an upper-body injury against Carolina on Wednesday. Coyotes captain Shane Doan was also out because he is facing a three-game suspension for his hit on Anaheim's Dan Sexton on Sunday.
