Sidney Crosby continued his red-hot start, assisting on three of the Pittsburgh Penguins' four first-period goals in a 6-3 win over the visiting Ottawa Senators on Friday.

Crosby has two goals and five assists in three games since returning from a 10 1/2-month absence due to concussion symptoms. The Penguins are 2-0-1 in those games.

It didn't take long for Crosby to return to the scoresheet after being blanked by St. Louis two nights earlier. Just 27 seconds after Kaspars Daugavins kicked off the scoring for the Senators, Crosby set up Chris Kunitz with a cross-ice pass his eighth goal of the season.

Tyler Kennedy put Pittsburgh in front at 3:25, banking the puck in off goaltender Craig Anderson from behind the red line. Crosby then added assists on goals by Steve Sullivan and Evgeni Malkin before the 10-minute mark of the period, giving Pittsburgh a 4-1 lead and chasing Anderson from the net.

Pascal Dupuis extended the lead 3:45 into the second period, gathering up a loose puck between the circles and beating Alex Auld just inside the right post.

Jared Cowen scored his second goal of the year late in the period for the Senators. Pittsburgh's Jordan Staal and Ottawa's Erik Condra exchanged third-period goals to complete the scoring.