Crosby's 16th career hat trick buries Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Sidney Crosby recorded his 16th career hat trick, scoring twice in the third period, rallying the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 on Tuesday night for their league-leading fifth straight win.

Crosby extended his point streak to nine games with the 558th, 559th and 560th goals of his career, also adding an assist. Jake Guentzel and Erik Karlsson each contributed a goal and an assist, and Tristan Jarry stopped 28 shots in his fourth consecutive win.

“We’re trying to play the game the right way, and we’re trying to work collectively as a group,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought our penalty kill was terrific tonight. It was a good team effort. We stayed with it.”

Kirill Marchenko, Yegor Chinakhov and Alexandre Texier scored, and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 37 for Columbus, which has lost six straight and two in a row at home.

Crosby put Pittsburgh up at 4:10 of the first period with a shot from the side of the net off a give-and-go with Marcus Pettersson.

“I thought we felt pretty comfortable throughout the night, as far as how we were playing and what we’re generating,” Crosby said.

Marchenko stole the puck in the defensive zone and out-deked Jarry to pull Columbus even at 10:29.

With 32 seconds left in the first period, Chinakhov put Columbus up 2-1 on his first goal of the season. Werenski’s secondary assist was the 174th of his career, the most ever by a Blue Jackets defenseman.

Guentzel slid the puck through Merzlikins five-hole from his knees to knot the score 2-2 at 7:04 of the second, before Karlsson put Pittsburgh ahead again at 8:40 of the third and extended his point streak to six games.

Texier knotted the score at 11:45 off a feed from Sean Kuraly, but Crosby put the Penguins back up less than three minutes later and sealed his hat trick with an empty-netter at 19:23.

“We had our chances,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. “We didn't finish, and this league will humble you in no time.”

Pittsburgh has points in 10-straight games against the Blue Jackets, dating back to Dec. 12, 2019.

UP NEXT

Penguins: Host New Jersey on Thursday.

Blue Jackets: Host Arizona on Thursday.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL