Bill Kostroun, Associated Press Ryan Malone ducks as the puck sails in on New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur last night. Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: Penguins Notebook: Unusual game-day routine follows 4-day holiday break Baby Penguins lose in regulation for first time in 10 games

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury had lost two starts in a row, had been called out publicly by his coach to pick things up, especially when his team is shorthanded.

The 22-year-old needed a good game.

Last night, he delivered.

"He was sharp," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said.

Just one problem.

His goaltending counterpart with New Jersey was better.

Which is all in a night's work for the Devils' Martin Brodeur, who picked up his fifth shutout this season, stopping 26 shots as the Penguins fell, 3-0, at Continental Airlines Arena.

Brodeur, 34, moved into second place all-time with his 85th NHL shutout. That's more than a season's worth of games in which the 6-foot-2, 215-pounder has held opponents without a goal and left them looking for the proper adjectives afterward.

"He's world-class," Therrien said.

"He's one of the best ever," said Penguins center and NHL-leading scorer Sidney Crosby, who had his 10-game points streak stopped and was limited to two shots, both in the third period.

"Hopefully, someday I can be like him. That would be great," said Fleury, who also stopped 26 shots and kept the Penguins in the game before New Jersey got two goals in the final six minutes of the third period.

The loss was the Penguins' fourth in a row after a four-game winning streak.

Therrien called for patience and discipline going into the game.

"If you open it up for no reason, that's when they're going to burn you," he said of the Devils, who have long thrived on defense and use that defense to create offense.

"If we start to play an opened-up game, that's their bread and butter. That's what they want. That's when you're going to lose the puck in a critical situation. They're going to cause you to make turnovers."

Let it be said that Therrien's players hung on every word.

The Penguins were patient to a fault at the start. They did not get their first shot until Mark Recchi was stopped at the doorstep by Brodeur at 7:35 of the first period and finished it with four shots.

There were scoring chances at both ends, but the Penguins had several shots swept aside before they reached the net and a couple more that missed the goal.

Fleury stopped nine New Jersey shots in the first, including a leg save on John Madden at 10:05 after he and Sergei Brylin turned a flopping puck in their end into two-on-one rush.

Before the Penguins could get a shot in the second, New Jersey took a 1-0 lead, on a Travis Zajac shot from the right dot that beat Fleury on the short side at 1:23.

The Penguins got their first power play at 8:01 of the second, but did not get a shot. They improved on that when they got their second power play at 11:38 of the second -- they got one shot. One of the Penguins' best chances came when Crosby and Ryan Malone bore down on Brodeur on a two-on-one and Malone's shot hit the post to Brodeur's right.

"When it's a tight game like that, you have to take advantage of every opportunity you get, and, unfortunately, we weren't able to take advantage of ours," Crosby said.

The patience ran out at 14:38 of the second, at least for Crosby, after New Jersey's Cam Janssen ran defenseman Brooks Orpik in front of the Penguins' bench, and Crosby jumped in and briefly tussled with Janssen.

Neither team mustered much offense in the resulting four-on-four from roughing minors to Crosby and Janssen except for a backhander by Brylin that Fleury stopped. The Penguins opened things up some in the third period -- what choice did they have? -- but Brodeur got stronger.

During a Penguins power play early in the third, Brodeur collapsed on a Ryan Whitney shot that Evgeni Malkin redirected. When there was a scramble around him near the end of that man-advantage, Brodeur made three saves while sprawled on his belly.

That's the way it went all night.

"His team feeds off of him, and that's how they win," Penguins forward Jordan Staal said of Brodeur.

Jay Pandolfo gave New Jersey a little breathing room at 15:58 of the third. Brylin pulled Fleury out of the net, then sent the puck across the crease, where Pandolfo tapped it into the empty net to make it 2-0.

Brian Gionta put it out of reach with his 100th career goal at 17:58, converting a two-on-one with Patrik Elias by lashing a backhander from the left edge of the slot into the far side of the net.

"It was close to the end, and we were taking some chances near the end," Therrien said. "That's what they want you to do."