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Recchi's hat trick highlights Penguins' rout

Jan 21, 2007 - 5:20 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Mark Recchi joined in on the fun with his young, talented Pittsbugh Penguins teammates.

Recchi registered his seventh career hat trick - all on the power play - and Sidney Crosby recorded a goal and two assists as the Penguins posted an impressive 8-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, who had their four-game road winning streak snapped.

Evgeni Malkin had a season-high five points - all assists - and 18-year-old fellow rookie Jordan Staal scored his third goal in four games for Pittsburgh, which was 5-for-9 on the power play and also scored on a penalty shot in improving to 3-0-1 in its last four games.

"When we do the right things and we work hard and we support each other and we do the little things properly, we're a pretty dangerous power play," Recchi said.

"Our penalty-killing was abysmal," Toronto coach Paul Maurice said. "On the upside, we had plenty of time to practice it. I thought that might help. ... The only good thing about today is, we'll get off the plane and take a little break."

The 38-year-old Recchi, who plays on the league's second-youngest team, capped the first-period scoring when he tapped in a feed from defenseman Ryan Whitney with 2:32 left for a 3-1 lead.

The 17-year veteran teamed with league scoring leader Crosby for his two second-period tallies that broke open the game. The 19-year-old Crosby made a nifty pass from the left wing boards to Recchi, who blasted a one-timer from the slot past goaltender Andrew Raycroft for a 4-1 lead at 11:08.

"He's been a big reason why I've had some success lately, and he was a big part of our success tonight," Crosby said of Recchi. "He's a big leader on the team. Guys like himself, (Sergei Gonchar) and (Jocelyn Thibault), guys that have been around a long time, we really look to those guys to lead. He did more than lead by example tonight with his effort, and as his teammates, you can't help but follow that."

Just over three minutes later, Recchi completed his natural hat trick with his 14th goal of the season, beating Raycroft after another cross-ice feed from Crosby, who put the pass between a defender's legs.

"I feel great out there and obviously, when you're getting great passes like that out there, it makes it a little bit easier," Recchi said. "I feel good and it was a great win for our team tonight."

Crosby netted his 24th of the season 4:02 into the third period as Pittsburgh matched its season high in goals.

"We just kept our foot on the gas and didn't let up," Crosby said. "It doesn't matter who you play, if you're out there moving your feet and keeping the puck moving forward and not making mistakes, you're going to get your chances. (Tonight), we did a great job putting them in when we got them."

Another young Penguin, 22-year-old Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26 shots to improve to 20-12-6.

"I've said all along that these (young guys) want to grow and they want to continue to get better," Recchi said. "They have a great work ethic on the ice, off the ice. That just shows the maturity of this young group of guys. We just have to get a little more consistent and we know that, especially coming into February and March."

Raycroft, who entered 5-1-0 with a 1.99 lifetime goals-against average against Pittsburgh, allowed five goals on 21 shots before being replaced after two periods by former Penguin Jean-Sebastien Aubin.

Jeff O'Neill and defenseman Brendan Bell scored for Toronto, which had a two-game winning streak snapped.

"Overall, our play was not very good tonight. I thought the first five minutes, we played well," Toronto captain Mats Sundin said. "We looked good at the beginning tonight because we knew how important this game was for us.

"Look at the standings, we're all bunched together with Pittsburgh and a lot of other teams. Tonight, we were not good enough. We took too many penalties, and Pittsburgh took advantage of it."