Penguins/NHL
Crosby tallies 1st Natural Hat Trick
Sidney Crosby continues to put his stamp on the best player in the NHL label, recording his first natural hat trick against the Atlanta Thrashers Thursday night.
Crosby’s 3 goals pushed him past the 20 goal plateau, reaching the mark in just 27 games, the fastest in his career.
Crosby first goal of the game came at 7:32 in the first period, receiving a great feed from Chris Kunitz and beating a sliding Pavelec after two swats at the puck.
In the second period Crosby took over, scoring a breakaway goal just 4:24 into the period for his 20th goal of the season. Arron Asham found Crosby wide open in the neutral zone as the Thrashers got caught in the Penguins zone and Crosby came down 1-on-1 against Pavelec with poise and beat Pavelev with a backhand goal who didn’t have a chance.
His third goal of the game, Crosby redirected a Brooks Orpik shot from the point past Pavelec. Crosby showed great eye coordination, collecting his first natural hat trick of career and his 21st goal of the season.
Crosby has 7 career hat tricks and has recorded back-to-back hat tricks on home ice.
Crosby’s 3 point night extends his point streak to 14 games. As of the second period of tonight’s, Crosby has 15 goals and 14 assists, averaging over 2 points per game, during his points streak.
