PITTSBURGH _ It would be hard to call the Penguins a perfect hockey team right now.
They are, however, a resilient one.
Trailing late in the third period a night after another poor performance, the Penguins dug deep and erased a deficit to defeat the New Jersey Devils, 4-3, in a shootout on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.
The win is the Penguins' fourth this season when trailing after two periods, which is tied for the NHL lead.
Sidney Crosby, unmarked, got it started when he shoveled a rebound past Devils backup goaltender Keith Kinkaid with 14 seconds left in regulation to tie the score at 3.
Kris Letang got the only goal in the shootout, a forehand-to-backhand beauty of a move that he roofed, and Matt Murray (27 saves) stopped all three of the Devils chances.
Crosby, who has 15 goals, has still not gone back-to-back games without scoring this season while also helping the Penguins (13-6-3) avoid losing back-to-back games in regulation for the first time since last December.
As good as Crosby was, though, it was nearly Letang winning it in overtime after a saucer pass from Crosby with about two minutes to go in three-on-three overtime. Letang got a pair of quality chances out of the pass, and Phil Kessel unleashed a shot 30 seconds later. Kinkaid, though, could not be solved despite the Penguins totaling 49 shots on goal.
Much of this night appeared to be the Penguins' inability to convert their chances.
They fired a bunch of early shots at Kinkaid, who was giving Cory Schneider a night off, but only had goals from Jake Guentzel and Tom Kuhnhackl in the second period to show for it.
The first period lacked anything resembling flow, the result of a combined 28 faceoffs because of five icing calls and several other factors.
The Penguins held a 19-8 edge in shots on goal and 25-17 in attempted shots, but faced a 1-0 deficit because of a Mike Cammalleri goal, one of two for him on this night.
Cammalleri took advantage of an uncharacteristic giveaway from Crosby and beat Murray far side, under his right arm, at 3 minutes, 33 seconds of the period.
The Penguins flashed one change on their top power play unit. Nick Bonino went over the boards first for the first opportunity, while Scott Wilson got the next crack at filling the spot vacated by Patric Hornqvist (concussion) and Chris Kunitz (lower-body).
Wilson had a rebound chance and generated some chaos on another sequence, as he has talked repeatedly about wanting to state his case for this role.
The Penguins power play totaled 10 shots but could not score for the fourth game in a row.
The Penguins threw a ton of shots at Kinkaid in the first but didn't score until Guentzel shoved in a rebound from eight feet at 1:23 to tie the score at 1.
It was Guentzel's third goal in four NHL games, all of them coming at home.
Kuhnhackl put the Penguins ahead, 2-1, at 2:48 of the second period when he beat took a nifty Evgeni Malkin pass and, with speed, beat Damon Severson, finishing the sequence by ladling a puck past Kinkaid's left pad.
Vernon Fiddler took advantage of a Kessel giveaway on a power play at 4:00 of the second period, with Letang taking a poor angle and Fiddler nudging a one-handed shot past Murray.
Cammalleri picked up his second of the game at 9:19 of the second period, blasting a one-timer from Pavel Zacha to make it 3-2. Former Penguin Beau Bennett didn't receive an assist on the goal, but he was in front of Murray, obscuring his vision.
It wasn't all offense in the second, though, as Murray kept Nick Lappin from scoring with a ridiculous toe save on a breakaway at 10:12 of the second period.
Crosby had a Grade A chance at 16:22 of the period, with an in-close tip, the type of play he's handled so well so far. But Kinkaid got enough of his blocker on it, and it ricocheted off the crossbar.
Some serious courage from Kuhnhackl in the next sequence. After blocking a Vernon Fiddler shot with his right foot/ankle, Kuhnhackl, clearly hobbled, tried to block another one before hobbling to the Penguins dressing room.
Murray made a fabulous toe save on Lappin on a breakaway at 10:12 of the second to keep the Penguins in it. Kuhnhackl showed a ton of courage, blocking a Fiddler shot then hobbling to his feet to try and block another one.
Crosby was also inches from tying it when his chip attempt glanced off Kinkaid's blocker and the crossbar. Even Bonino had a gorgeous chance in the third when the Devils botched a breakout.
