A Devil of a night
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — A return to New Jersey and a rare bad game by Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury were all the Devils needed to get back on track.
Checking forward Jay Pandolfo capitalized on a bad night by Fleury to score the tie-breaking goal and the New Jersey Devils snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Penguins on Friday night.
"I don't know if we just have a little more confidence at home," Pandolfo said after New Jersey improved to 9-1-1 at the Meadowlands. "We have to find a way to start playing better on the road."
Jamie Langenbrunner, Patrik Elias, Travis Zajac and Brian Gionta also scored as goal-starved New Jersey avoided its longest winless streak since a seven-game skid (0-4-2-1) in 2001.
The Devils scored only five goals in losing the final four games of their just completed five-game road trip. They got four goals on nine shots against Fleury in just over 30 minutes, and then added one more against Jocelyn Thibault.
Goaltender Martin Brodeur, who finished with 23 saves, said it's easier for the Devils to play their style at home.
"When you are a matching team, we are able to have our lines on the ice at the right time," Brodeur said. "There are no half-shifts, like we do on the road because we have to change when they put their top line out there. We have to find a way to do it on the road. We've done it in the past."
Brodeur was far from perfect in handing Pittsburgh its fourth loss in five games. He gave up soft goals to Erik Christensen and Evgeni Malkin in the early minutes of the first and second periods, respectively.
The turning point came at 7:31 of the second period when Pandolfo scored his third goal of the season to snap a 2-2 tie.
Fleury, who seemingly flubbed Langenbrunner's point shot on the Devils' first goal, got square to Pandolfo as he one-timed a pass from Sergei Brylin from the right circle. The puck somehow sneaked past Fleury and slowly crossed the goal line.
Zajac stretched the lead to 4-2 a little more than three minutes later, tapping the rebound of an Elias shot past Fleury to end his night.
"It's always hard to lose knowing I didn't play as well as I can," Fleury said. "I have to put it behind me."
