Crosby had three goals and chased Jaroslav Halak before the conclusion of the second period. No. 87 broke a scoreless tie 8:33 into the game, then scored a pair of goals in the second that was sandwiched between Michael Rupp's tally at 12:58. Crosby scored at 5:08 and again with 4:27 left in the period. He now has 9 goals this season.
"I was in the right place at the right time," Crosby said of his third career hat trick. "I was standing all by myself a couple of times. (My linemates) did all the work, and I just tried to finish it off."
On October 28, 2006, Crosby scored his first career regular season hat trick to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to an 8-2 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wachovia Center. He scored one goal in the first period and two in the second. Crosby netted the first two goals against goaltender Antero Niittymaki and the third against Robert Esche.
On November 29, 2008, Crosby scored his second career regular season hat trick to lead the Penguins to a 4-1 victory against the New Jersey Devils at Mellon Arena. Crosby scored a goal in each period against goaltender Scott Clemmensen for his first three-goal game on home ice.
Material from broadcast media was used in this report.