Pens rout Blue Jackets

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Sidney Crosby had two goals to extend his point streak to 15 games, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won their ninth straight by routing the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-2 on Saturday night.

Even without top forward Evgeni Malkin, who was sidelined by a knee injury, the Penguins didn’t miss a beat. Crosby has five goals in two games, following his hat trick against Atlanta on Thursday.

Paul Martin set the tone with two first-period goals, and Michael Rupp, Tyler Kennedy and Deryk Engelland also scored for the Penguins, who have points in 12 consecutive games (11-0-1). Pittsburgh also got two assists each from Kris Letang and Mark Letestu and won on the road for the sixth straight time.

The Blue Jackets dropped their fifth in a row, losing by a combined 12-2 in a little over 24 hours. They were shut out for the first time this season, 5-0 at Buffalo, on Friday night.

It got so bad that a huge contingent of Penguins fans chanted, “We want 10!” — in the second period.

Marc-Andre Fleury tied a career high with his eighth straight win, stopping 21 shots.

Crosby has 17 goals and 14 assists in his streak. He was going for a third hat trick in four games, but played sparingly and didn’t score in the second half of the game.

Chris Clark and Samuel Pahlsson had goals, and Ethan Moreau added two assists for the Blue Jackets.