New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur has a chance to earn his 500th career victory tonight at Mellon Arena.

It only seems like he has gotten 450 of them against the Penguins.

In reality, he is 31-20-4 against them, including a 1-1 mark this season. Brodeur earned a 5-4 victory here Oct. 17 and absorbed a 5-0 loss in Newark a week ago.

Although Brodeur's stats this season are pretty ordinary -- he is 5-8-1, with a 2.77 goals-against average and .891 save percentage -- he still is poised to join Patrick Roy (551) as the only goalies in NHL history to win 500 games.

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Scouting report

• Matchup: New Jersey Devils at Penguins, 7:38 p.m. today, Mellon Arena.
• TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh; WXDX-FM (105.9).
• Probable goaltenders: Dany Sabourin for Penguins. Martin Brodeur for Devils.
• Penguins: Are 2-5 inside Atlantic Division. ... LW Gary Roberts has two points, both assists, in his past 11 games. ... Have given up six power-play goals in the past two games.
• Devils: Have gone 3-6-2 on the road, including a 5-4 victory at Mellon Arena Oct. 17. ... LW Patrik Elias does not have a goal in his past 11 games. ... Power play is in a 0-for-17 slump.
• Hidden stat: Penguins have had a winning record at home against the Devils just once since 1992-93.

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He is among the finest puckhandlers ever at his position, and his ability to control rebounds -- a major issue for Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury at this stage of his development -- is among his greatest strengths.

"You play the butterfly style, the puck's going to hit you," Brodeur said. "I'm more of a guy who's going to hit the puck instead of letting it hit me. It makes all the difference in how you control the puck because you're directing it.

"Sometimes it looks like it's a big rebound, but I'm throwing it exactly where I want. I kick it right out to the defensemen instead of them having to go in the corner to get it."

A man disadvantage

When the Penguins were caught with six men on the ice 31 seconds into their 5-2 loss in Philadelphia Saturday, it marked the fifth time this season they were penalized for such an infraction.

That's an eye-catching total, because it reflects the inability of some players to focus on one of the basic aspects of playing the game. Either that, or some still don't have that whole count-to-five thing down.

Saturday, the problem involved defensemen, three of whom ended up on the ice at the same time. That gave the Flyers the opportunity to take a lead they never surrendered.

A lesson to be learned

The Penguins' power play hardly qualifies as their most pressing concern at this point, since it has scored at least once in 16 of their first 17 games and ranks 10th in the league with a conversion rate of 21.1 percent.

But while the Penguins rely mostly on finesse to score with the man-advantage, Philadelphia reminded them that it can be done in a more blue-collar way.

The Flyers went 4 for 7 with the extra man -- the first time the Penguins have allowed more than two power-play goals in a game -- primarily by shooting the puck at Fleury as much as possible, then having forwards in and around the crease to exploit any rebounds or loose pucks that resulted.

Quality time off?

It's safe to assume that coach Michel Therrien did not consult with his New Jersey counterpart, Brent Sutter, before giving the Penguins yesterday off.

Sutter did not have his team practice last Sunday, and seemed convinced that it contributed to the Devils' poor showing in their 5-0 loss the next night.

"That's the players' responsibility and accountability to themselves and each other to make sure they came to the rink ready for gameday. Obviously, they weren't."

The Penguins, for what it's worth, had last Sunday off, too.