Kilmarnock boss Angelo Alessio praised his side's 'perfect' start as they came firing out of the traps to stun struggling Hearts.
The Rugby Park side hit three goals in a wild opening 16-minute spell that was inspired by winger Chris Burke.
The 35-year-old contributed two goals and an assist as Killie moved within three points of third-placed Aberdeen with a 3-0 victory.
He said: "It's difficult to start like that every week but today is perfect because we scored three goals in 20 minutes.
"Every game in this league is tough but I think the players entered the pitch very well, with a good approach and attitude.
"We deserved to score three goals because we created a lot of chances in 30 minutes and we deserved to win.
"Two months ago our difficulty was scoring goals and now we score three goals early on. We are happy but we need to continue to improve.
"I'm pleased but I've asked the players to recover in the right way as we have lots of games coming up.
"We have Rangers , Celtic and St Mirren away so it was important to win this game today and try and get as many points as possible from those games."
Burke fired the hosts ahead after nine minutes after he was released by an excellent pass by Mohamed El Makrini.
The outstanding Burke went from scorer to provider in the 13th minute when he produced a stunning cross for Eamonn Brophy to power a header home.
The experienced Burke then added his second after a devastating counter-attack.
