Bruce Bennett, Getty Images The Penguins' Dominic Moore takes a two-minute penalty for goaltender interference as he shoves the Devils' Martin Brodeur last night at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. Click photo for larger image. More Penguins Penguins Notebook: LeClair likely is gone for good SCOUTING REPORT Matchup: New York Islanders at Penguins, 7:38 p.m. today, Mellon Arena. TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WXDX-FM (105.9). Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury for Penguins. Rick DiPietro for Islanders. Penguins: Will be facing Islanders for third time in nine games, including 3-2 victory Tuesday at Mellon Arena. ... Home-ice penalty-kill is fourth-best in NHL, with success rate of 90.7 percent. ... Are 2-1-1 in second game when playing on consecutive days. Islanders: Are 2-7-2 when allowing first goal of game. ... RW Miroslav Satan's next goal will be his 300th in NHL. ... C Mike York does not have point in seven games. Hidden stat: DiPietro has stopped 15 of 17 shots during shootouts this season.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Martin Brodeur of New Jersey is not the perfect goaltender. It just seems that way most of the time.

Last night was not one of those occasions, but it didn't matter.

Mostly because Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who makes no secret of his admiration for Brodeur, picked this particular evening to outdo him.

So even though Brodeur came close to filling his season's quota for dubious goals when the Penguins got two off him, Fleury let in no fewer than four in the Devils' 5-2 victory at Continental Airlines Arena.

New Jersey, which had scored just four goals during a 0-3-1 road trip, put four pucks past him on eight shots during the first 30-plus minutes of play. That earned Fleury an early exit -- his first performance-related hook by coach Michel Therrien this season -- and presumably a fairly restless night.

"He'll be thinking about it for a while," forward Erik Christensen said. "He's hard on himself."

Even Fleury's teammates who expected to rest well faced the prospect of not being able to do it for long, however. High winds in north New Jersey threatened to force the cancellation of their post-game flight home, and team officials were investigating the possibility of rescheduling their trip for this morning.

The loss dropped the Penguins to 11-9-4, leaving them in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. New Jersey, meanwhile, improved to 13-9-2 by taking two points from what center Scott Gomez had characterized as a "must-win" game.

The Devils probably weren't counting on getting a quick start, but it's unlikely that they envisioned falling behind just 74 seconds after the opening faceoff, either. Especially on a goal as suspect as the one Christensen got.

Sure, he is an accomplished scorer -- he had 12 goals in 16 games with the Penguins' American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre before being promoted Nov. 22 -- but his first NHL goal of the season had very little to do with ability.

He flipped a harmless-looking shot toward the New Jersey net from the top of the left faceoff circle, then watched in near-amazement as it eluded Brodeur.

"It was like a ground ball that took a bad hop and the fielder can't handle it," Christensen said.

That goal could have -- maybe even would have -- deflated the Devils, but the Penguins wasted little time in relinquishing their advantage.

Dominic Moore was penalized for interfering with Brodeur at 3:04, and Jamie Langenbrunner tied the game 34 seconds later when his slap shot from the left point knuckled under Fleury's right leg pad.

New Jersey then moved in front at 11:59, when Patrik Elias' shot from the outer edge of the left circle caromed off Penguins defenseman Josef Melichar and past Fleury.

Brodeur preserved the lead with a series of excellent saves with about 6¹/₂ minutes to go in the first period, but was victimized by another marginal goal during the opening minute of the second.

This time, he was burned by Penguins center Evgeni Malkin, who carried the puck down the right side, got by defenseman John Oduya and flipped a backhander from low in the right circle. The puck ricocheted off the inside of Brodeur's right pad and into the net 42 seconds into the period.

But the Penguins rejected that momentum transplant, too, and Jay Pandolfo put the Devils in front to stay at 7:31, as his shot from outside the right dot sneaked between Fleury's pads and across the goal line.

Just three minutes and four seconds later, Therrien yanked Fleury after Travis Zajac swatted in an Elias rebound from the front lip of the crease.

Therrien praised the Penguins' work through the first 30 minutes -- "I thought the first half of the game, we were the best team on the ice," he said -- but that reality wasn't reflected in Fleury's personal stats.

"Everyone has tough nights," center Sidney Crosby said. "Unfortunately, when it's a goalie, everyone's seeing it."

Jocelyn Thibault, who replaced Fleury, gave up his only goal on 19 shots at 6:22 of the third, when Brian Gionta converted a cross-crease feed from Elias to close out the scoring.

Fleury's teammates, cognizant of how well he has played through the first two months of the season, closed ranks around him after the game.

"He wasn't at his best," defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "But I don't think anyone really was."