Justin Faulk registered his first career hat trick within the first 22 minutes as the Carolina Hurricanes thumped the Los Angeles Kings 7-3 on Tuesday night at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.

Faulk, a 25-year-old defenseman, scored three goals in a row as the Hurricanes went up 4-0 by early in the second period. He had gone the previous 14 games without a goal, though now he has seven goals this season.

Jeff Skinner posted two goals and Jaccob Slavin and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won three games in a row.

Carolina closed a season-long eight-game homestand with a 5-2-1 record. The Hurricanes have a four-game points streak for just the third time this season.

Teuvo Teravainen picked up three assists, while Aho and Justin Williams both provided two assists.

Aho has five goals in seven games since missing a couple of weeks with injuries.

Goalie Cam Ward made 27 saves for the Hurricanes.

Jonathan Quick started in the nets for the Kings, though he was pulled after it was 4-0 and he had made 16 saves. Darcy Kuemper was peppered with shots and wasn't much more effective, notching 18 saves.

Anze Kopitar, Tyler Toffoli and Torrey Mitchell scored for the Kings. Kopitar also notched an assist.

The Kings trailed 5-0 before scoring.

Two of Faulk's goals came on power plays and Skinner also notched a power-play goal. Faulk also had a multi-goal game when he scored twice in December against the Buffalo Sabres.

Skinner scored for the second game in a row following a six-game stretch without a goal.

Carolina finished with a season-high goals total and it was a vastly different result from a 3-2 overtime loss that the Hurricanes suffered in December at Los Angeles.

The Kings reached the three-goal mark for the fifth consecutive game. They have lost the last two games, and they still have four more games on the seven-game road stretch.

--Field Level Media