The Pittsburgh Penguins hammered the New Jersey Devils 7-1 to claim top spot in the NHL's Atlantic Division.

The Penguins - still without star man Sidney Crosby, who has missed 26 of the last 29 games with a sprained ankle - were led again by Russian center Evgeni Malkin as they broke a tie with New Jersey to take over first place with two weeks left in the regular season.

Pittsburgh are just one point behind the Montreal Canadiens for the Eastern Conference lead.

"He really took charge once we lost Sid," Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien said after Malkin had two goals and an assist in the third period as the Penguins scored five times to break open a tight game.

Malkin went over the 100-point mark for the season.

"You want your best player to elevate his game during big games," Therrien said. "When you have guys like Malkin, who played a great game tonight, and [Marian] Hossa, who was fantastic - I was really impressed."

The Penguins and Devils meet again on Tuesday in New Jersey, with Pittsburgh also having a game at the New York Islanders on Monday.

It was the first home win for the Penguins in four games against the Devils this season.

Ryan Malone's short-handed goal broke a 1-1 tie late in the second period and the Penguins then poured it on to chase Martin Brodeur from the New Jersey goal.

"You're tied 1-1 in a hockey game and you give up a terrible short-handed goal from a three-on-one break from the hash marks in their zone, I really think that changed the complexion of the game," said Devils coach Brent Sutter.

The Devils have lost three straight games and scored only one goal in each. They got a spectacular short-handed goal from Brian Gionta in the first period on Saturday but that was it for the game as Marc-Andre Fleury had a strong game in the Pittsburgh net.

Petr Sykora had a goal and two assists and Hossa three assists as he continues to fit in after being acquired from the Atlanta Thrashers at the trade deadline.

"That was a great performance by 20 guys out there," said Therrien. "They stuck to the plan, the way we wanted to play, and we got rewarded so it's nice to see."

Reuters