Hearts manager Steven Naismith hailed the positivity and bravery of his side's display, as captain Lawrence Shankland netted a hat trick in the 6-1 win against Ross County at Tynecastle.
The interim boss picked up his first win in charge at the second attempt, as the home side ran riot in Gorgie. Hearts were at it from the get-go and scored the opener on 17 minutes when Josh Ginnelly laid the ball off to Alex Cochrane, and the midfielder fired a low strike into the bottom corner past Staggies stopper Ross Laidlaw.
They doubled their advantage five minutes later, as winger Ginnelly beat the offside trap to finish smartly from Cammy Devlin's pass. The celebrations were put on hold when VAR checked the goal for a possible offside, but referee Don Roberton quickly pointed to the halfway line, confirming the initial decision.
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The game was then ended as a contest on 28 minutes, when captain Shankland powered a header home after getting on the end of Devlin's delivery. It got even worse for the visitors in first half injury time, when the Jambos number nine was tripped up in the penalty area, and he stepped up to convert the spot kick to claim his second of the afternoon to make it 4-0.
Naismith's men started the second period as they had the first, and within 11 minutes of the restart scored their fifth goal. Cochrane grabbed his second assist of the match, putting the ball into Ginnelly's path, allowing the Englishman to beat Laidlaw with a powerful low strike that nestled in the bottom corner.
And three minutes later Shankland completed his hat trick, producing a brilliant chipped finish from inside the box after the Staggies made a mess of trying to clear their lines.
The entire 90 minutes was a complete mis-match, and if it wasn't for some impressive saves from Laidlaw, Hearts could have added to their tally even further.
The icing was every so slightly taken off the cake in the closing stages, when the away team pulled a goal back through Welshman Gwion Edwards from the penalty spot.
The victory moves them two points behind Aberdeen in third place, as the Premiership now enters it's split, where the top six sides will all face off against each other once again. They now also hold a seven goal advantage over the Dons, which could be pivotal should the sides finish on the same amount of points.
Boss Naismith was delighted with the way Hearts performed, as they ended a run of six games without a victory with a dominant display against the Staggies.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, he said: "It was a very good performance. I felt that last week that we were one pass away in the forward areas, and today we made the right options much more than last week. That gave us the opportunity, and then we have really good players who can score and that has shown today.
"We scored loads of goals today and the players showed their quality to pick the right pass. Obviously Shankland and Ginnelly score a few, but Alex (Cochrane) got one and Atkinson almost did as well, and that is your two full backs. Overall it was a really good day's work.
"When you are in a rut it is easy to do the same thing all the time, and that is what has been happening. But today lots of our passes were brave, and that meant that we were able to kill the other team's press."
The former Scotland international's men have moved to within two points of Aberdeen in third, but was keen to remain grounded going into the final five matches of the season as the Premiership splits into two.
He added: "It gives us confidence that we have put on a good performance and have worked the changes and on what we have asked the players to do. We just need to carry on and see where that takes us."
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