NEWARK, N.J. -- New Jersey defeated the Penguins, 3-1, at the Prudential Center tonight.

The Devils' victory lifted them to within two points of the first-place Penguins (40-23-5) in the Atlantic Division. New Jersey has played two fewer games than the Penguins, and will face them again here Wednesday night.

The Penguins have lost all five of their games against the Devils in 2009-10, while New Jersey has won consecutive games for the first time in two months.

The Penguins played most of the game with 11 forwards after Craig Adams received a charging major and game misconduct for a hit on Devils defenseman Martin Skoula a split-second after play was blown dead for a high-sticking violation.

Adams' hit knocked Skoula's face into the glass, opening a cut near his right eye.

There is little to suggest the incident will result the league assessing Adams a fine or suspension.

The Devils got four shots while the Penguins were killing Adams' major -- and a bit more, since coach Dan Bylsma had gambled and didn't put anyone in the penalty box when the penalty was assessed to Adams.

Trouble is, the entire power play passed without a stoppage in play, so the Penguins didn't get to replace Adams until 20 seconds after his penalty was up. Under NHL rules, they would have been able to put someone in the box at any point during the power play if play were blown dead.

New Jersey also failed to capitalize on a penalty shot awarded to Ilya Kovalchuk at 18:10 of the second period after Penguins defenseman Kris Letang hacked at him from behind on a breakaway.

Kovalchuk is one of the most feared goal-scorers in the game, but his penalty-shot attempt was lackluster, as he swung wide to the left before getting off a fairly harmless shot from near the left hash mark.

Turns out the Devils didn't need a goal then, though, as they never trailed.

New Jersey took a 1-0 lead at 1:43 of the opening period, when an Andy Greene shot sailed wide of the right post, only to carom hard off the back boards and go directly to Patrik Elias, who flipped it past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from the inner edge of the right circle.

Sidney Crosby got that back for the Penguins just 42 seconds later, beating Devils goalie Martin Brodeur from inside the right circle during a two-on-one break for his 45th.

Greene put the Devils back on top, 2-1, at 2:06 of the third by driving a rising slap shot past Fleury from the top of the right circle, and the Devils got a tainted insurance goal at 9:59 to go up by two.

As a Kovalchuk shot was nearing the net, New Jersey forward Travis Zajac used his stick to push Fleury's glove away, allowing the puck to sail past him.

Fleury protested vigorously and replays confirmed that Zajac had interfered with Fleury's ability to catch the shot, but such incidents are not subject to video review.

The Penguins will visit Tampa Sunday at 5:08 p.m. in the third stop on their five-game road trip. They will return home for a day before leaving again for games at New Jersey Wednesday and Boston Thursday.

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