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Jokinen's hat trick lifts Panthers over Penguins

Jan 11, 2007 - 4:48 AM SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- Olli Jokinen made sure the Florida Panthers' return home was a successful one.

Jokinen registered his third career hat trick to lead the Panthers to a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Florida, which concluded an 0-1-2 West Coast trip on Sunday, improved to 4-0-1 in its last five home contests.

"It's encouraging for us to make a statement back here (at home) and hopefully establish something positive," Panthers left wing Martin Gelinas said.

After scoring the game's first two goals to give Florida a 2-0 lead, Jokinen completed his second hat trick of the season on a give-and-go play with Nathan Horton less than 3 1/2 minutes into the third period.

The Panthers' captain passed the puck into the corner to Horton, got a return feed at the top of the left faceoff circle and blasted a shot past goaltender Jocelyn Thibault's glove at 3:23 for his 19th tally of the season and a 3-1 advantage.

"It's always nice to score goals, but the win is the most important thing to me," said Jokinen, who also tallied three times against Montreal on November 16. "Top players have to be at their best and give their team a chance to win. It was nice that I was able to do that tonight."

"I think we got a strong game from our leader with the hat trick," Florida coach Jacques Martin said. "That was really a key. He is a top player, and that's what you expect from your captain."

Jozef Stumpel and Gelinas each had a goal and two assists for Florida, which received a 23-save performance from Alex Auld.

The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for Auld, who has allowed 19 goals over his last five starts.

Rookie Evgeni Malkin and Colby Armstrong tallied for the Penguins, who have dropped three straight.

"We're really struggling right now," said Thibault, who finished with 34 saves. "On some of those shots, I just wasn't ready to make the play. There were some bang-bang plays out there where I should have made some stops, but didn't."

Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby, whose 65 points leads the league, had his five-game points streak snapped.

"It comes down to offense and being able to make the most of your chances, and tonight we didn't capitalize," said Crosby, who was named as a starter for this season's All-Star Game on Tuesday. "We had opportunities, but we didn't get the big goals that would have made a difference in the game."