Penguins reach goal by beating Toronto

Pittsburgh now holds one of the Eastern Conference's eight playoff spots.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins had made it a goal to hold one of the Eastern Conference's eight playoff spots by the All-Star break.
With an emphatic win in their final game before the five-day league layoff, the Penguins achieved just that.
Mark Recchi scored three consecutive power-play goals and Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists to lead the Penguins to an 8-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night.
Evgeni Malkin had five assists, Sergei Gonchar had three assists and Jarkko Ruutu scored on a penalty shot goal for the Penguins, who moved into a three-way tie for the eighth and final playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
Recchi, who also added an assist, recorded the seventh hat trick of his career in a span of 16:57, starting late in the first period.
Toronto's Jeff O'Neill scored the first goal 3:19 into the game on a power play.
But from there it was all Pittsburgh as Jordan Staal scored the first of seven straight goals 1:31 later. He tipped in a pass from Malkin while going hard to the net. Malkin has five goals and seven assists during a five-game point streak.
Lead for good
The Penguins took the lead for good with 11:30 left in the first on Ruutu's penalty shot.
Ruutu, who hadn't scored since the season opener, was pulled off his skates by Carlo Colaiacovo on a breakway against Toronto goalie Andrew Raycroft. On the penalty shot, Ruutu faked a forehand shot to freeze Raycroft before tucking the puck into the net with the backhand.
Recchi made it 3-1 with 2:32 to play in the opening period when Ryan Whitney's centering pass deflected off his skate and into the net.
Recchi's second of the game and 13th of the season came midway through the second off a pass from Crosby. His third came at 14:25 of the second from Crosby and Gonchar.
Crosby added a 5-on-3 goal 4:02 into the third against backup goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin, an ex-Penguin, and Michel Ouellet added a power-play goal with 8:52 to play.
Brendan Bell scored a power-play goal for Toronto with 6:16 to play before Ryan Malone -- off a pass from Malkin -- scored his seventh 1:01 later.
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