The San Diego Gulls fell victim to a hat trick by 19-year-old Ontario Reign left wing Adrian Kempe in a 4-1 loss Thursday in Ontario.
Kempe scored all three of his goals in the second period, beginning with a power-play goal one minute, 27 seconds into the period off assists by Andrew Crescenzi and Vincent LoVerde.
The Reign, the Los Angeles Kings’ American Hockey League affiliate, increased their lead to 3-0 on Kempe’s goal at 10:13 off assists by Nick Ebert and Sean Backman.
Kempe, Ontario’s youngest player, completed his hat trick with a power-play goal at 14:05, off assists by Crescenzi and Jeff Schultz.
Kempe was chosen by the Kings in the first round of the 2014 NHL draft as the 29th overall selection. He scored nine goals in 17 AHL playoff games to help the Manchester Monarchs, who moved to Ontario, win the Calder Cup.
Kempe had scored once in eight games entering Thurday’s play.
Brian McGrattan, the Gulls’ oldest player at 34, scored their lone goal, off assists by Jaycob Megna and Bryan Moore at 12:01 of the second period. The goal was the first of the season for McGrattan, who scored 10 goals in 317 NHL games over nine seasons with four teams.
Michael Mersch opened the scoring at 8:44 of the first period off assists by LoVerde and Nic Dowd.
Peter Budaj stopped 20 of 21 shots for the Reign (6-1-2-0) before a crowd announced at 6,212 at the Citizens Business Bank Arena.
John Gibson stopped 21 of 25 shots for the Gulls (7-2-0-0), the Anaheim Ducks’ AHL affiliate. The loss was Gibson’s first of the season following five victories and ended the Gulls’ three-game winning streak.
The Gulls will play at San Jose on Saturday. Their next game at Valley View Casino Center is scheduled for Wednesday against Bakersfield, the Edmonton Oilers’ AHL affiliate.
— City News Service
