These killers pumped new life into the Penguins

NEWARK, N.J. -- The scoresheet says that the Penguins lost the special-teams battle against New Jersey Tuesday night at Prudential Center, and it's hard to argue with the numbers.

After all, the Penguins failed to score on any of their four power plays, while New Jersey was 1-for-3 with the extra man.

Not much room for interpretation there.

But what those numbers don't show is that while that overall battle was lost, the Penguins won the skirmish that went a long way toward making their 5-2 victory possible.

That would be the one that was contested over a 102-second span during the third period, when the Penguins held a precarious 2-1 lead and the Devils went on a 5-on-3 power play.

"That could…