The Pittsburgh Penguins extended their winning streak to five games on the back of a huge game from Sidney Crosby.

The Pittsburgh Penguins look like one of the hottest teams in the NHL riding a four-game winning streak heading into their first regular season contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

With Tristan Jarry in net and carrying a lengthy shutout streak, the Penguins looked to extend their heater with multiple crucial divisional contests on the horizon.

First Period

It didn’t take long for Sidney Crosby to not only give the Penguins a lead, but extend his point streak to nine games.

From a severe angle, Crosby found a loose puck and squeezed it through Blue Jackets netminder Elvis Merzlikins.

Jarry’s shutout streak would soon be snapped on just the second shot against by a fabulous individual effort from Kirill Marchenko.

Playing in his second season, Marchenko stripped Evgeni Malkin of the puck and flipped the ice with his speed and smooth hands to beat Jarry.

As time ticked away on the opening frame, the Blue Jackets began to shift momentum into their favor and eventually gain a lead.

With about 30 seconds remaining, the Jackets capitalized on their well earned momentum to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

Second Period

The Penguins needed to come out swinging in the second period and take the wind out of the Blue Jackets sails.

They did just that by collecting a few scoring chances in the early minutes, and even capitalizing on a broken set up.

Jake Guentzel was in the right place at the right time to bat home a feed from Crosby that was knocked down by Vinnie Hinostroza.

The Penguins managed to kill of a couple of penalties in the second frame while getting no man advantage opportunities of their own.

The second period came to a close with the score squared away at two.

Third Period

Through a good chunk of the final regulation period, the score remained tied, even with the Penguins carrying the pace of play.

The Penguins finally broke through with a goal from Erik Karlsson as he continues his impressive trend of offensive production.

Malkin sent a pass clear across the ice that made its way to Karlsson who slammed home a booming one-timer.

The Blue Jackets climbed right back with plenty of time remaining as a rebound found an unmanned Alexandre Texier.

Following a massive penalty kill by the Penguins featuring a few huge saves from Jarry, Karlsson and Crosby combined for another pretty goal to give the Penguins the lead, again.

A point-shot from Karlsson was tipped along the goal line by Crosby to beat Merzlikins.

With about 90 seconds remaining, the Blue Jackets pulled Merzlinkins to gain an extra attacker but Crosby pounded home his third of the night.

The goal was Crosby's first hat trick since January of 2022 which also occurred against the Blue Jackets.

The Penguins closed out their win with a 5-3 final score and locked up their fifth consecutive victory.

Crosby and Karlsson stayed hot, Jarry made all the right saves, and the Penguins continue to look like one of the hottest teams in the league.

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