PITTSBURGH, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Alexei Kovalev recorded his first hat trick of the season and 10th of his career Saturday as the Pittsburgh Penguins ended a three-game winless streak with a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Kovalev beat Jocelyn Thibault between the pads in both the first and second periods and put one past rookie goaltender Michael Leighton with less than five minutes remaining for his first hat trick since Jan. 5, 2002.
Randy Robitaille picked up assists on all three of Kovalev's goals and added one of his own, helping the Penguins halt an 0-2-1 skid.
It was the first time the Penguins had scored more than three goals since a 4-1 win at Atlanta on Jan. 3. They did fall to none for 23 on the power play over the last five games.
Steve Sullivan tied it 4:39 into the final period, but the Blackhawks had their winless stretch reach five games (0-4-1).
Steve McKenna scored the decisive goal just 65 seconds after Sullivan tallied.
Defenseman Phil Housley and Andrei Nikolishin gave Chicago a 2-1 edge in the opening 20 minutes.
Pittsburgh's Jean-Sebastien Aubin stopped 23 shots in his first start since Jan. 11. Rookie Sebastien Caron had played six straight.
