SUNRISE, Fla. -- Olli Jokinen stands 6 feet 3, 215 pounds, but he plays a lot bigger than that against the Penguins.

The Florida captain and leading scorer had three goals to lead the Panthers to a 5-2 win last night in front of 16,098 at BankAtlantic Center.

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It was his third career hat trick, second against the Penguins. He has 28 points, including 15 goals, in 30 career games against the Penguins.

"He's an elite player in this league," Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney said. "Two of his goals were rockets, and the other was a nice tip, so it's not like they were cheesy goals."

Jokinen's third goal, one of those rockets, came at 3:23 of the third period and gave Florida a 3-1 lead with the winning goal. Jozef Stumpel added a back-breaking goal 18 seconds later.

Penguins center Sidney Crosby, the NHL's leading scorer, had his points streak stopped at five games and was held without a point for the eighth time in his 39 games this season.

The Panthers have won 13 of the past 14 meetings between the teams, and Jokinen is a large reason.

"It seems like he scores a lot of goals against us," said Penguins goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, who made just his seventh start and first since Dec. 21 and faced a Panthers team that rushed the net and made pests of themselves around the crease and piled up 39 shots.

"That's the way they play," Thibault said. "They put a lot of pressure on me. They put a lot of pressure on us. They work the puck deep. They go to the net. They get a lot of tips and screens. It was no different tonight."

Penguins coach Michel Therrien shuffled his forward lines for the game, but it was the defense that came up short.

"When the transition's not there, we can't generate offense," Therrien said. "I don't think the defensemen moved the puck well."

Overall, the Penguins have lost three games in a row -- including being swept in two games on back-to-back nights in the Sunshine State -- as they continue their season of streaks.

The game marked the start of the second half of the season for the Penguins, who had 43 points in their first 41 games.

Jokinen went to work quickly. He made it 1-0 when he redirected a puck high and past Thibault's glove at 5:27.

The Penguins' best chance to tie it in the first period came at 13:52, when defenseman Rob Scuderi's short clearing pass off the boards near the left point sprang Crosby on a breakaway. Florida goaltender Alexander Auld made a glove save of Crosby's wrist shot.

In the final seconds of the first period, winger Mark Recchi took a pass from Ryan Malone that caught Auld leaning the other way, but Recchi's shot toward an empty half of the net missed.

Jokinen struck again at 10:12 of the second period with a power-play goal that made it 2-0 just four seconds into an interference call against Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik. Jokinen got the puck at the blue line, moved up 10 feet, then blasted a slap shot.

Penguins rookie Evgeni Malkin, who was playing with new linemates Jordan Staal and Michel Ouellet, turned things up in the second period with several scoring chances.

One paid off with a goal at 12:26 to close the margin to 2-1. After Ouellet had two cracks at Auld from right in front, Malkin swooped in from the left boards and banged the puck past Auld's outstretched leg.

It was Malkin's 20th goal in his 38th NHL game.

The Penguins' defense sagged in the second period. With a lot of space in front of him, Thibault faced 21 shots and made several strong saves, including going into the splits and making a glove save on Ville Peltonen from close range at 16:20.

At 17:23 of the second period, Penguins defenseman Josef Melichar left the ice with help after blocking a shot and did not return. He has a leg injury that will be re-evaluated today.

Jokinen completed his hat trick early in the third period to make it 3-1 with a bullet from the top of the left circle after he traded passes with Nathan Horton in the near corner.

Jokinen's first career hat trick came against the Penguins Nov. 25, 2005. He had one earlier this season against Montreal.

Stumpel's goal at 3:41 came on a backhander from just outside the crease and made it 4-1.

The Penguins climbed to within 4-2 when Colby Armstrong scored his sixth goal of the season and second in the past two games at 11:21 of the third period from a scramble beside the net.

Martin Gelinas added an insurance goal, a deflection from in front, for Florida at 14:33.