From NHL.com's Lisa Dillman:
Los Angeles Kings forward Adrian Kempe thought about it for second or two and did the time zone math in his head on Wednesday at Staples Center.
"It is morning back in Sweden," Kempe said.
And so, there's a good chance that hockey fans in his native country, as well as friends and family, did not sleep through his first NHL hat trick in the Kings' 5-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens. Kempe added an assist for a four-point performance and his linemate, Michael Cammalleri, also had four points (two goals, two assists) against his former team.
If it were morning in Sweden, it is also a new day dawning for the Kings.
Los Angeles is off to a 5-0-1 start, the best in its history. The Kings are the only NHL team without a loss in regulation, and moved past the idle Vegas Golden Knights to take possession of first place in the Pacific Division and Western Conference.
Just like everyone envisioned, right?
"I don't think there's one person that would have predicted that we've done what we've done," Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. "I'm pretty sure I know from hearing other people talk, that every single team counted us out of the playoffs, counted us out of even competing for a playoff spot. We knew about that a little bit and wanted to prove everyone wrong. We've got so much work to do and it's so early to talk about that. But I'm not surprised."
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