Sidney Crosby even made his empty-net goal look good.
It was that kind of night for Crosby, who recorded the second hat trick of his career to lead the Penguins to a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night at Mellon Arena.
"I was just getting some bounces," Crosby said. "I was feeling good. I felt like I had plays and was able to make some things happen. There are nights when some of us have good chances and, fortunately, they went into the net."
Sidney Crosby had a hand, or a stick, in every goal, as the Penguins ended the Devils' five-game win streak.
Hats decorated the Mellon Arena ice after Crosby scored his final goal -- an empty netter with 2:01 remaining -- while lying on the ice.
"I thought it was in for sure, and then I had to get my stick on it," Crosby said. "I had one last kind of swipe at it. I kind of watched it and it seemed like it took forever to go in. It was nice to see it go in, for sure."
Crosby scored the first, third and fourth goals and assisted on Petr Sykora's power-play goal.
Penguins goalie Dany Sabourin made 29 saves. He was sharp in the third period when he stopped 10 shots to help the Penguins protect a 3-0 advantage.
Crosby's second goal at the 11:29 mark of the second period gave the Penguins a 3-0 lead. It was his first goal, though, that set the tone for the night. Crosby passed the puck to himself and used a backhand shot to find the back of the net just 1:21 into the game.
Crosby's second goal would not have been possible without Evgeni Malkin's hustle. Malkin was checked into the boards by Devils forward Zach Parise and fell to the ice. But Malkin got up, won the race to the puck, and set up Crosby's goal.
"Last week, Sid really picked up his game," coach Michel Therrien said. "You can see the fire in his eyes. He's having fun. Geno, it's the same thing. Those two put on quite a show."
