Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Justin Brazeau (16) waits for the face-off against the Dallas Stars during the game at the American Airlines Center. Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Justin Brazeau achieves personal milestone as Penguins dominate Blackhawks

By Mike J. Asti | Last updated Dec 29, 2025 12:05 AM ET

The Penguins provided Pittsburgh sports fans upset about the Steelers' loss earlier in the day, something to cheer about, thanks to their best offensive output of the season on Sunday night.

And not only did Sidney Crosby and company score seven goals in a 7-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, but a first-year Penguin achieved a personal milestone.

Justin Brazeau scored three goals on three shots for a perfect shooting percentage and the first hat trick of his career. Brazeau's three-goal game was only his third multi-goal game of the season, with the first coming back on Oct. 7 as part of Pittsburgh's season-opening win in New York against the Rangers and the most recent on Dec. 14 in a 5-4 overtime loss to Utah.

Justin Brazeau has really stepped up his game this season

He now has 11 goals in 23 games played on the season, which is tied for his personal season-high. Brazeau put 11 pucks in the net last season in 76 games during time split between the Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild.

Hats did fly https://t.co/9UNinn4iER pic.twitter.com/vR3iS8dAGS
— NHL (@NHL) December 29, 2025

Adding seven assists, the 27-year-old Brazeau has 18 points so far. He posted 22 points in 2024-25 and 20 as a rookie the season prior.

To further display his improved play this season, Brazeau has skated to a +3 to this point after finishing as a -9 last year.

Sidney Crosby didn't score but did add to his franchise-best point total

So even though Crosby didn't find the back of the net — he did record an assist that gives him 39 for the season and 1,726 points for his career, increasing his career point total only a couple games removed from passing Mario Lemieux for the most in franchise history, the Penguins still managed to score more than they have in any prior game this season.

The Penguins picked an ironic night to light the lamp so often, too. Pittsburgh ended up with more offense than its NFL counterparts, who were only able to produce six points in their upset loss to the Cleveland Browns.

Mike J. Asti

Mike Asti is an experienced media personality and journalist with a vast resume and skillset, most notably from time with TribLIVE Radio and WPXI-TV. Asti now serves as the Managing Editor of WV Sports Now, where he leads the coverage of WVU sports. He has also covered the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates and other teams within the Pittsburgh market

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