Sidney Crosby - Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/5ba59a00-0059-496b-b065-e7266fda02e9.jpeg] Sidney Crosby - Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images The Pittsburgh Penguins played one of their best games of the 2024-25 season on Saturday against the Dallas Stars. They overcame one of the Western Conference's top teams in a thrilling 5-3 victory [https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-pit/2025/04/05/2024021211/summary] powered by a Sidney Crosby hat trick. Let's discuss the latest Penguins triumph. EVERYONE HITS A MILESTONE Crosby opened the scoring, giving the visiting Penguins a 1-0 lead before Evgenii Dadonov collected two of his three to provide Dallas with a 2-1 lead through two periods. However, Crosby tied things just 20 seconds into the third before capping off his four-point afternoon with an empty net goal for his first hat trick this season. Penguins' Crosby Becomes 19th NHL Player To Record Multiple Hat Tricks After Age 36 [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/5c873e8d-8ed2-4a3a-855f-fe05b2a85973.jpeg] Penguins' Crosby Becomes 19th NHL Player To Record Multiple Hat Tricks After Age 36 Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby recorded his 17th career hat trick on Saturday afternoon against the Dallas Stars. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/players/penguins-crosby-becomes-19th-nhl-player-to-record-multiple-hat-tricks-after-age-36] In a news cycle where everyone talks about Alex Ovechkin, Crosby quietly secured his 13th 30-goal season and is one of the hottest players in the league [https://x.com/PenguinsPR/status/1908604571456503916], with 20 points in his past 12 games. Meanwhile, Bryan Rust scored [https://x.com/penguins/status/1908636855383523576] to make it 3-3 earlier in the third. His lamplighter tied a career-high that he established last season. Additionally, that goal was the 200th of his career. Moreover, Tristan Jarry secured his 150th win, becoming only the third netminder in franchise history to reach the plateau behind Marc-Andre Fleury and Tom Barrasso. IT WASN'T PRETTY, BUT JARRY SAVED THE DAY Jarry gave up some soft goals to Dadonov, providing the forward with his second career hat trick, both against the Penguins. He finished the contest with a .875 SV% with 21 saves. Ultimately, he had to watch his old partner Casey DeSmith [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88US8K2QSKY&pp=ygUNY2FzZXkgZGVzbWl0aA%3D%3D] put on a goaltending clinic at the other end. DeSmith made 35 game-saving saves, with his best occurring without a stick. Unfortunately, no one knows which version of Jarry will show up nightly, and the Penguins got a little mixture of both good and bad on Saturday, but he persevered and secured a much-needed win. PENGUINS CAN'T DECIDE WHERE THEY WANT TO FINISH Penguins fans want this season's team to tank and get a top-5 pick [https://www.tankathon.com/nhl/pick_odds] while the players themselves are still playing with their backs against the wall. Pittsburgh Penguins Schedule: Remaining Games & Statistical Notes [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/7e70a01c-eb91-4603-8ee3-39978551eccf.jpeg] Pittsburgh Penguins Schedule: Remaining Games & Statistical Notes The Pittsburgh Penguins are winding down their 2024-25 season and on pace to miss the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third consecutive season, a first in Sidney Crosby's 20-year career. However, there is plenty to play for in the final weeks of the regular season. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/pittsburgh-penguins-schedule-remaining-games-statistical-notes] Pittsburgh are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs now, but they must win every game and hope the rest of the pack stumbles in the season's final week and a half. Winning out and missing the playoffs by a couple of points hurts their upcoming draft position, but does it matter? The club has an absurd number of draft picks in the upcoming drafts, so no one can be upset where they finish. As professional athletes, they have never been out of the race, and outside of playing for personal milestones, qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs is always a skater's main goal every season.
