Sidney Crosby got his second hat trick of the season and fourth of his career and finished with five points as the Penguins crushed the New York Rangers, 8-3, tonight at Mellon Arena.

The Penguins are 11-0-2 in their past 13 home games against Rangers.

New York took a 1-0 lead when defenseman Marc Staal -- older brother of Penguins center Jordan Staal -- made a slick move to get around Penguins defenseman Alex Goligoski as he cut through the left circle, then extended to slip the puck past goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury at 8:50 of the first period.

It was the second tough play for Goligoski, who came back after missing six games with an unspecified injury. Earlier in the first period, Goligoski lost the puck to Rangers sniper Marian Gaborik near the blue line, and Fleury made a good save on Gaborik.

Evgeni Malkin tied he game, 1-1, for the Penguins at 14:37 of the first period. Crosby pried the puck from New York's Matt Gilroy behind the Rangers net and batted it to Bill Guerin in the right corner. Guerin sent it back to Crosby, who fed Malkin in the crease. Malkin shoveled the puck past goaltender Steve Valiquette.

The Penguins struck for two more goals in a 46-second span to increase their lead to 3-1.

After Goligoski carried the puck up ice but lost it in the Rangers' end, Crosby, trailing the play, got the puck and scored from above the hash marks to make it 2-1 at 17:43.

Crosby then set up Max Talbot for a backhand shot and goal at 18:29. It was Talbot's first goal of the season in his sixth game after he missed the first month and a half following offsesaon shoulder surgery.

Matt Gilroy cut the Penguins' lead to 3-2 when he scored for the Rangers on a screened shot from the right point at 14:33 of the second period.

Literally a last-second shot from the point by Mark Eaton gave the Penguins a 4-2 lead at the end of two periods. Eaton's shot from the left point crossed the goal line with 0.3 seconds left in the period, and it stood as a goal after a review.

It didn't take long for the Rangers to cut their deficit to a goal. Michal Rozsival, in the right circle, one-timed a feed from Sean Avery 33 seconds into the third period to make it 4-3.

Crosby got his second goal of the game when he threw the puck toward the net from the goal line to Valiquette's right and it went in off Valiquette's leg. It gave Crosby his first four-point night of the season.

The goal was set up by Malkin, whose shot from the far side slid through the crease to Crosby.

Pascal Dupuis increased the Penguins' lead to 6-3 at 7:20 of the third period when his slap shot from the right point flew past Valiquette's glove.

Crosby got his third goal when he scored from inside the right dot on a power play at 11:29 of the third period to increase the Penguins' lead to 7-3. Appropriately enough, the Penguins gave away ball caps as a promotion, and they littered the ice. The goal also gave Crosby his fifth point in the game.

Just 26 seconds later, the Penguins got another power-play goal, this one coming when Tyler Kennedy deflected in a slap shot by Kris Letang to make it 8-3.

The Penguins and Rangers have a rematch Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

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