Instead of licking their wounds after a rough loss, the Pittsburgh Penguins bounced back and booked their ticket for the post season.

Less than 24 hours after an embarrassing loss to the New York Islanders, the Penguins clinched a playoff berth and took a big step toward the top seed, beating the New Jersey Devils 2-0 on Tuesday night behind a 31-save performance by Marc-Andre Fleury.

"We've been doing this all year, bouncing back after a poor performance," said Ryan Malone, whose first-period goal proved to be the game-winner. "I think that shows a lot of character."

Marian Hossa added an empty-net goal for the Penguins, who opened a four-point lead over the second-place Devils in the Atlantic Division and pulled within a point of Montreal for the best record in the conference.

"Everyone is thinking about trying to finish on top," said Malone, who has six goals against New Jersey this season. "We have to keep striving in that direction."

Pittsburgh and the Canadiens have five games to play in the regular season, one less than the Devils, whose four-game winless streak (0-3-1) matches their season high.

"We're in good position but we still have a lot of hockey left," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said. "We can't make the same mistake we made last night. I think we learned from it. We reacted really well. Winners want to play these type of games. Winners want to bounce back."

Elsewhere in the NHL it was: Ottawa 6 Buffalo 3; Boston 6 Toronto 2; Calgary 3 Vancouver 2, Philadelphia 2 New York Rangers 1 (OT); Washington 3 Carolina 2 (SO); Nashville 3 Columbus 0; Detroit 2 St. Louis 1; Tampa Bay 3 Florida 1; and Phoenix 5 San Jose 4.

At Newark, N.J., Malone scored at 5:18 of the first period with Patrik Elias off for interference.

Defenceman Sergei Gonchar sent a pass to the left circle and Ryan Whitney found Malone alone between the circles for a one-timer that beat goalie Martin Brodeur. It extended Malone's career-best goal total to 27.

The Devils thought they tied the game midway through the second period when defenceman Sheldon Brookbank put a power-play shot into the net with Fleury down after being bumped by Arron Asham of the Devils. Referee Eric Furlatt immediately waved off the goal, ruling that Asham prevented the goalie from playing the puck.

"The guy ran into me," said Fleury, who is 7-1 since returning from a high ankle sprain that caused him to miss 35 games. "It was obstruction, I guess. They said I couldn't play the puck."

Devils coach Brent Sutter said Penguins defenceman Kris Letang lost his stick on the play, wrapped his arms around Asham and pushed him into the goaltender.

"It wasn't like he skated intentionally trying to hit the goalie," Sutter said. "It's the ref's decision, his call. I'm not going to sit here and blame the officiating tonight."

Fleury stopped 16 shots in the third period in posting his fourth shutout of the season and the 11th of his career. The 23-year-old stopped Jamie Langenbrunner in close on a power play early in the period and stopped deflections by Zach Parise and Elias just seconds apart with less than nine minutes to play.

"This was huge for us," Fleury said. "The race is really tight. The Devils are a tough team to beat. This was a good win for us."

It marked the 10th time this season that New Jersey has been shut out.

"Right now we just have to stay with it," Elias said. "I thought we played pretty good tonight and got better as the game went on. In the third, we had the game on our sticks. We created opportunities and shots. We have to stay with it. The puck will go in eventually."

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby sat out his seventh straight game and 28th in 31 because of a sprained right ankle. Pittsburgh is 16-8-4 without him, including 5-2 in the past seven.

Crosby has been listed day to day and the Penguins hope he will play Thursday in Pittsburgh against the Islanders.

Senators 6 Sabres 3

At Buffalo, N.Y., Daniel Alfredsson had two of Ottawa's five third-period goals, and Anton Volchenkov snapped a third-period tie with less than two minutes left in regulation to rally Ottawa.

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Bruins 6 Maple Leafs 2

At Toronto, Marco Sturm and rookie David Krejci each had a goal and an assist and Boston hurt the Maple Leafs' playoff chances with a victory.

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Flames 3 Canucks 2

At Calgary, Daymond Langkow and Dion Phaneuf scored 41 seconds apart in the third period and the Flames rallied to beat Vancouver, moving into first place in the Northwest Division.

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Flyers 2 Rangers 1 (OT)

At New York, Mike Richards scored a breakaway goal 2:16 into overtime and Philadelphia beat the Rangers.

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Capitals 3 Hurricanes 2 (SO)

At Raleigh, N.C., Viktor Kozlov scored in the third round of the shootout to lead Washington over Carolina.

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Predators 3 Blue Jackets 0

At Nashville, Tenn., Goaltender Dan Ellis stopped 36 shots for his fifth career shutout, and the Predators earned its second straight victory to keep its fading playoff hopes alive.

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Red Wings 2 Blues 1

At St. Louis, Johan Franzen's power-play goal snapped a third-period tie and Henrik Zetterberg added his 150th career goal, helping Detroit its fourth straight victory.

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Lightning 3 Panthers 1

At Tampa, Fla., Jeff Halpern had a goal and two assists and Tampa Bay hurt Florida's late playoff push.

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Coyotes 5 Sharks 4

At Glendale, Ariz., Martin Hanzal scored in overtime to give Phoenix a win over the Sharks.

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