Win or lose, there is nothing -- I mean nothing -- predictable about the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Yeah, Mario & Co. knocked off the Devils, 4-2, in Tuesday's Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final, knotting the series, 1-1. But, as usual, they took an odd road to the victory.

After dropping Game 1, the Pens opened this tilt with some new line combinations. They seem to change line combos -- and defensive systems -- every few days. In this case, coach Ivan Hlinka (at least I think he's making these decisions) reunited the Robert Lang-Martin Straka-Alexei Kovalev line. Then, in an effort to separate the Devils' checkers, the Penguins placed Mario Lemieux on a line with Josef Beranek and Alexei Morozov, while positioning Jaromir Jagr with skilled rookie Milan Kraft and Jan Hrdina. Veteran LW Kevin Stevens, who took some questionable penalties in Game 1, was dropped to a fourth unit with Wayne Primeau and Rene Corbet.

In the first period, the moves seemed to have little impact on the Devils, who dominated the first 20 minutes and grabbed a 2-0 lead on a soft goal from Jay Pandolfo and a stoppable short-handed tally by Petr Sykora. The defending champs were fierce and focused.

The Penguins, meanwhile, had no passion in their game. They looked dead in the water. So bad, in fact, the Devils must've figured they could just mail in the last 40 minutes and head to Pittsburgh with a 2-0 series lead.

In the second period, though, things started to change. The Penguins began to skate with some purpose, while the Devils started to get a bit too cute. Suddenly, like a computer virus, poor decision-making and sloppy play began to seep into New Jersey's game. And, while Penguins goalie Johan Hedberg began to get stronger, Devils stopper Martin Brodeur weakened. Before the middle stanza was over, the Pens had taken a 3-2 lead.

And they did it by scoring three goals on just four shots in a 6:35 span. Morozov (short-handed). Kovalev (off a D-zone turnover). Corbet (off another sloppy D-zone play). Somehow, after two periods, it was Pittsburgh 3, New Jersey 2.

In the third, another missed defensive assignment by the Devs left Lang free in the right wing circle to one-time a pass from Kovalev past Brodeur, low to the short side.

The revived Pens, playing smart in front of Hedberg, fought off a few flurries from the Devils, who must've felt like they'd had their pockets picked in their own home.

Now, as the series moves to Pittsburgh, things are even. Game 3 will be played on Thursday. Which Penguins team will show up? Who knows?

Like I said, there's nothing predictable about these strange birds.

E.J. Hradek covers hockey for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ej.hradek@espnmag.com.