COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Columbus Blue Jackets are simply too hot for any team to handle right now.

Not even the Pittsburgh Penguins, who came into Nationwide Arena with an 8-0-2 record in their previous 10 games, could cool off the surging Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

Columbus extended its franchise-best winning streak to 11 games with a 7-1 rout, scoring four goals in rapid-fire succession in a dizzying third period to bury Pittsburgh (21-8-5) and move past the Penguins and the New York Rangers into first place in the Metropolitan Division.

For the Blue Jackets, this is uncharted territory. They've never been in first place this late in a season in their history.

"That was fun to be a part of," Blue Jackets left winger Brandon Saad said.

With the win, Columbus has 48 points, one more than the Penguins and the New York Rangers. The Blue Jackets close out their pre-Christmas schedule on Friday night at home with another big game against Atlantic Division-leading Montreal.

Veteran Scott Hartnell's three goals helped get the Blue Jackets to the top of the division. The hat trick, with two of his three goals coming in the third period, was the ninth of his career and had extra meaning considering the opponent and the stakes involved in this game.

"When you beat the Pens, you're smile is extra big, especially this time of year," Hartnell said. "This was a chance to go ahead of them and be right at the top. It was a big effort by everyone. It's nice to beat them."

The Blue Jackets entered the third period with a 3-1 lead and broke the game open with three goals within 51 seconds. Hartnell's third goal at 6:24 of the final period brought the sellout crowd to its feet and a shower of hats on the ice.

"Three goals is three goals. It's a nice accomplishment," Hartnell said. "Goals have been few and far between for myself the last 15 to 20 games. So it's nice to contribute."

Sidney Crosby scored Pittsburgh's only goal in the first period, which ended in a 1-1 tie.

At that point, Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella was worried because his team was outplayed in the first 20 minutes. Even though the Blue Jackets (22-5-4) had not lost a game since before Thanksgiving, the players were tentative.

"We were really nervous," Tortorella said. "We talked about it between the periods. We talked about how we've been playing in this league and that's when I thought they took a great step mentally.

"They believed they could win, where in the first period, I thought we were wetting our pants. So, it's a great process to go through for a young team to go find its way in the last two periods."

The Blue Jackets came out in the second period and seized a 2-1 lead at 9:45 after a review confirmed a goal by William Karlsson. Sam Gagner centered the puck from his knees behind the net to Karlsson, who roofed the puck past Murray.

Two minutes later, Hartnell delivered his first goal to make it 3-1. Then came the third period and the four-goal barrage, including Hartnell's two and one each by Saad and Boone Jenner.

"The puck went in for us tonight," Tortorella said. "We're not going to score seven goals on that team that often. But we got on our toes."

Penguins goaltender Matt Murray gave up six of the seven goals before he was replaced in the third period by Marc-Andre Fleury.

"I thought we had a real strong first period, but I thought we got outplayed in the second," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "We just didn't play the game the right way in the third period early on and they broke the game open."

Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 25 saves and boosted his record to 20-5-2. He is 10-0-1 during the Blue Jackets' winning streak, which is the longest in the NHL this season. They're now 12-0-1 in their last 13 games.

Bobrovsky's effort was notable against the highest-scoring team in the NHL. He stopped everything thrown at him except Crosby's league-high 23rd goal of the season just 2:39 into the first period when he slapped his own rebound past Bobrovsky's blocker.

The loss equaled the Penguins' worst of the season.

"We had our opportunities especially early in the second," Crosby said. "But they got a couple goal lead and didn't look back."

NOTES: RW Cam Atkinson, the Blue Jackets' leading scorer, was good to go Thursday after spending Wednesday in a walking boot. He blocked a hard shot with his left foot in Tuesday's 3-2 shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings and was sore, but no bones were broken. Atkinson scored the Blue Jackets' first goal against the Penguins. ... Pittsburgh and Columbus are two of the hottest and highest-scoring teams in the NHL. The Penguins lead the league in goals per game and the Blue Jackets are second. ... The Penguins and Blue Jackets came into the game as two of three NHL teams without a regulation loss in December. The other was the Minnesota Wild. ... Mike Sullivan picked up his first win as Penguins coach one year ago, in a 5-2 victory over the Blue Jackets on Dec. 21, 2015, in Pittsburgh. ... Penguins D Justin Schultz played in his 300th NHL game.