The Pittsburgh Penguins win their fifth straight game on the back of Sidney Crosby's hat trick.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has never struggled to find offense against the Columbus Blue Jackets. That trend continues as the Penguins' captain led his team to their fifth straight victory with a four-point performance, including the 13th hat trick of his storied career.

Goal Recap

(PIT 1-0) Sidney Crosby (8): Marcus Pettersson (4) & Kris Letang (7)

(TIE 1-1) Kirill Marchenko (4): Unassisted

(CBJ 2-1) Yegor Chinakov (1): Erik Gudbranson (4) & Zach Werenski (8)

(TIE 2-2) Jake Guentzel (6): Vinnie Hinostroza (2) & Sidney Crosby (9)

(PIT 3-2) Erik Karlsson (5): Evgeni Malkin (9) & Rickard Rakell (4)

(TIE 3-3) Alexandre Texier (3): Sean Kuraly (1) & Justin Danforth (3)

(PIT 4-3) Sidney Crosby (9): Erik Karlsson (10) & Jake Guentzel (12)

(PIT 5-3) Sidney Crosby (10): Bryan Rust (6) <EN>

Three Stars

3. Tristan Jarry

Tristan Jarry's performance flew under the radar thanks to the Penguins stars dominating in the final frame. Jarry battled through a rough first period, allowing two goals on six shots, but bounced back to make several timely saves late in the game to seal the victory for the Penguins.

This win makes it four straight for the Penguins' starting netminder, who is beginning to find his footing.

2. Penguins Penalty Kill

At some point, we'll need to recognize how important this unit is to the Penguins' success. The Penguins went 4-4 against Columbus, including a pivotal kill midway through the third period when Radim Zohorna was penalized for tripping. That kill built momentum for the Penguins and led to the eventual game-winning goal a few shifts later by Crosby.

The Penguins have now killed off 12 straight penalties and have shot up the NHL leaderboard with the 10th-ranked penalty kill in the NHL halfway through November (84.8%).

1. Sidney Crosby

It was the captain's night from start to finish. He opened the scoring with a tough angle shot that beat Elvis Merzlikins and didn't slow down from there. He added an assist on Jake Guentzel's goal to tie things up in the second period and eventually scored the game-winning goal on a patented redirection of an Erik Karlsson shot-pass.

Crosby has 57 points (20G-37A) in 39 games against the Blue Jackets. More importantly, he extended his point streak to nine games and has been held scoreless in only one game this season.

Final Thoughts

The Penguins' third line continues to stack impressive performances. They may not have scored against the Blue Jackets, but they dominated play everytime they were on the ice.

According to Natural Stat Trick, that line outshot Columbus 10-2 at 5v5 and accounted for 76.98% of the expected goals. If they continue to play that way, the Penguins could be a dangerous team later in the season.

The Penguins will get one day off before welcoming the New Jersey Devils to PPG Paints Arena on Friday night. The Devils have cooled off from their hot start but will look to turn things around against the streaking Penguins.

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