PITTSBURGH
Sidney Crosby had his second career playoff hat trick, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on Friday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Brenden Morrow added his first playoff goal in more than five years, Tomas Vokoun made 19 saves, and the Penguins rode their superstar captain to their fourth consecutive victory.
Crosby beat Craig Anderson three times in the game’s first 22 minutes, sending the goalie to the bench after stopping 18-of-21 shots.
Kyle Turris, Colin Greening and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Senators but couldn’t stop Ottawa from falling into a deep hole against the Eastern Conference’s top seed. The Senators never have won a playoff series after dropping the first two games.
Game 3 is Sunday in Ottawa.
The Pittsburgh captain became the fifth player in franchise history to record 100 playoff points.
Crosby reached the 100-point plateau in his 75th playoff game, the fifth-fastest player to reach the mark in NHL history.
Crosby didn’t need any fancy stickwork to record his first postseason hat trick since 2009. Instead, he powered a slap shot over Anderson’s glove from the left circle to push Pittsburgh’s lead to 3-1.
Anderson skated to the bench in favor of 21-year-old backup Robin Lehner, who made 20 saves in all.
