It is, as winning formulas go, pretty unconventional. It also is, the Penguins say, very much unintentional. That doesn't mean it hasn't been effective, though.
For the second game in a row, they failed to score a goal during the first two periods, and most of the third. And, for the second game in a row, they ran off three goals as regulation time was winding down to earn a victory.
This one, a 3-1 decision against Toronto Thursday night at the Air Canada Centre, stretched their winning streak to seven games.
"We have, in this locker room, the feeling that we can come back on any team," said right winger Pascal Dupuis, who scored the Penguins' first two goals. "But it won't happen every night. We can't make it a habit."
Well, probably not, anyway.

Although Kris Letang and James Neal both were held without a point for the first time in the past seven games, Penguins center Sidney Crosby avoided being shut out for a second consecutive game --something that has happened only once this season -- by setting up the first of Dupuis' goals.
And while it was just one assist, it was a spectacular one. Crosby backhanded a hard, blind, cross-ice pass to Dupuis, who was between the right circle and the crease, setting him up to throw a shot past Maple Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens at 12:42 of the third to tie the score, 1-1.