NEWARK, N.J. -- Marc-Andre Fleury and Martin Brodeur were back in their usual places Friday night, at opposite ends of the ice.

Wearing different sweaters.

Intent on doing everything possible to defeat the other's team.

But, for two weeks in Vancouver last month, they were teammates on Canada's Olympic squad, which gave Fleury an opportunity to interact with, and learn from, a guy he has admired for a lot of years.

"He was great to me," Fleury said. "We hung out a lot. He gave me some tips. That was pretty cool. He was real nice.

"I've loved watching him, and it was cool to be on the ice beside him, watching while he does his thing."

Brodeur has done his thing as well as, or better than, any goalie in NHL history during his 16 seasons with New Jersey.

He entered the game Friday night against the Penguins with ownership of the league records for victories (593), shutouts (108) and games-played (1,061), among other things.

He added an offbeat feat to his resume earlier this season when, in December and January, he joined Terry Sawchuk as the only NHL goalies to appear in 15 or more games in consecutive months.

Penguins right winger Tyler Kennedy, a fixture on the third line with Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke most of the season, was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row Friday night.

Kennedy does not have a goal in his past 16 games and has now been held out of a game for the third time this season. The first was Dec. 27 against Toronto.

"That's what happens when you have such a great team," Kennedy said. "Someone has to sit, and I have to wait my turn. And, when I get a chance, I have to show what I can do."

Former New Jersey captain Scott Stevens, one of the hardest hitters to pass through the NHL in recent decades, is an iconic figure for the franchise.

It was no small thing, then, when Brodeur and coach Jacques Lemaire -- both of whom also are major figures in team history -- suggested to New Jersey reporters after being around Sidney Crosby during the Olympics in Vancouver that he has some of the same traits that Stevens did.

"I watched him a lot, the way he conducted himself," Brodeur said. "He's a pretty impressive young kid. He not young anymore, but, again, there was a lot of pressure on him.

"I saw a lot of his focus. It's one thing when you play in the summer [at Team Canada's orientation camp] and when you play in the All-Star game and you get to know him.

"Now, we played for real together, and you see his game-day focus, how organized he is. His eyes -- it was a little like Scotty was. He looks through people on game days. He's not the best for no reason."

Lemaire, meanwhile, cited not only Crosby's preparation, but his focus.

"He's been always a great example for kids and his teammates," Lemaire said. "He's a guy [who] works all the time. He wants success, tries to play at the top of his game every night."

Martin Skoula was the Penguins' seventh defenseman most of this season, getting into games only when someone ahead of him on the depth chart was injured, but he seems to have found a home with the Devils.

He appeared in his third game for New Jersey last night after logging 21-plus minutes in each of the previous two.

New Jersey ended up with Skoula after the Penguins sent him to Toronto in the Alexei Ponikarovsky trade, only to have the Maple Leafs deal him to the Devils for a fifth-round draft choice a day later.

New Jersey winger Jay Pandolfo, who long has done some of his best work against the Penguins, returned to the Devils' lineup after sitting out two games as a healthy scratch. ... The Penguins, who were to fly to Tampa after the game Friday night, are not scheduled to practice today. They will face Tampa Bay at 5:08 p.m. Sunday.

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