Penguins 3, Devils 2: Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 37 shots to make Pittsburgh's big first period stand up in a win over visiting New Jersey.

Pascal Dupuis, Chris Conner and Jayson Megna scored in the opening session for the Penguins, who moved within a point of idle Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Fleury eschewed his traditional struggles versus New Jersey, overcoming a second-period blip en route to his league-best 18th win of the season.

Patrik Elias and Dainius Zubrus tallied for the Devils, who have dropped five of six. Cory Schneider made 20 saves in defeat.

Dupuis opened the scoring 41 seconds into the game, and the Penguins doubled the lead 7:14 later. Capitalizing on an odd-man rush, Conner gathered a pass from Brandon Sutter untouched in the slot, broke in alone and fired a wrist shot that beat Schneider on the short side.

Megna swept a rebound past a sprawling Schneider at 14:40 to make it 3-0, but the Devils responded with goals 56 seconds apart early in the second period. Fleury stood tall from there, stopping the last 24 shots he faced en route to his fifth win in six starts.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Devils RW Steve Bernier earned his 100th career assist on Elias' goal. ... Fleury improved to 17-21-4 lifetime against the Devils, who remain the only team from the East against whom Fleury has a sub-.500 record. ... Schneider has allowed three goals in each of his last three starts.