PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby's first hat trick in over two years helped the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-5 win against the Ottawa Senators at Consol Energy Center on Tuesday.
After Pittsburgh (25-17-7) surrendered a one-goal lead, Crosby tied the game 4-4 on a snap shot 6:10 into the second period to extend his streak of consecutive home games with a goal to a career-high eight. He then casually tapped a puck by Senators goalie Craig Anderson on a power play to give Pittsburgh a 5-4 lead with 3:15 remaining in the period.
Crosby, who finished with a season-high four points, capped the hat trick 6:40 into the third period, when he tapped another shot through Anderson to extend the lead to 6-4. It marked the first time he scored three goals since Oct. 12, 2013, against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
After scoring six goals in his first 32 games, Crosby has scored 14 in his past 16. Pittsburgh has won four consecutive games and five of its past six.
Penguins forward Chris Kunitz had a goal and two assists, forward Evgeni Malkin had two assists and defenseman Kris Letang had a goal and an assist.
The Penguins controlled the first period, but a few lapses kept them from taking full advantage.
Penguins forward Matt Cullen opened the scoring when he carried the puck to the Ottawa crease and took a shot off Anderson's glove. With Anderson looking behind him, thinking the puck might have crossed the goal line, Cullen sent a rebound shot into the Senators net 7:01 into the first.
Pittsburgh extended the lead to 2-0 with 9:06 remaining in the first when Letang sent a shot into an open net with forward Patric Hornqvist in front following Anderson's pad save on a Kunitz breakaway. The goal was upheld after Ottawa challenged for goalie interference.
Forward Mark Stone scored on Ottawa's third shot with 5:10 remaining to cut Pittsburgh's lead in half. Kunitz pushed Pittsburgh's lead back to two goals 1:27 later and defenseman Chris Wideman scored on the Senators' fifth shot to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 30.3 seconds left in the first. With Ottawa (23-22-6) trailing 3-2 to begin the second, the Senators scored two quick goals after Penguins forward Tom Kuhnhackl was called for embellishment to negate a Pittsburgh power play. Ottawa took advantage of the 4-on-4 when Erik Karlsson's slap shot bounced over goalie Marc-Andre Fleury before forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau tapped it past the goal line 3:01 into the second.
Defenseman Cody Ceci scored 24 seconds later when he dug a puck into the net from under Fleury, giving Ottawa a 4-3 lead.
Senators forward Dave Dziurzynski scored to make it a one-goal game with 4:10 remaining in the third. Ottawa hit the crossbar twice in the final minute.
Penguins forward Eric Fehr exited midway through the second period after being hit into the boards and did not return.
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