PITTSBURGH -- The mark of a very good team is the ability to bounce back from a very bad game. Mark this down as evidence the Pittsburgh Penguins are a very good team.

Sidney Crosby got Pittsburgh going with his NHL-leading 24th goal, Marc-Andre Fleury led a tightened-up defense with 23 saves and the Penguins won for the ninth time in 11 games by beating the New Jersey Devils 4-1 Friday night.

Evgeni Malkin set up two goals, defenseman Chad Ruhwedel scored his first NHL goal nearly four years after debuting and the Penguins quickly bounced back from a 7-1 loss Thursday in Columbus, one of their worst performances in coach Mike Sullivan's one-plus seasons on the job.

"It was noticeable, they got beat pretty bad last night and they wanted to come back and have a great game to rebound from, it was very evident," Devils defenseman Damon Severson said. "It's one of those games where they really dominated (early) ... we had a tough time getting to the zone and sustaining time there."

Eric Fehr and Patric Hornqvist also scored for the Penguins, who got a strong night in net from Fleury one night after Matt Murray gave up six fairly quick goals.

Sullivan credited Crosby, Malkin and his other veterans for sending the message that Friday night would be nothing like Thursday night.

"They always respond the right way, they're a proud group and they have high expectations of each other ... they're good pros," Sullivan said. "They make sure we respond the right way."

Fleury has been a bit uneven this season, going 9-5-4 as Murray has made the majority of the starts lately, but fans in PPG Paints Arena chanted "Fleury, Fleury, Fleury" as the game wound down.

It was more like old times for Fleury, the Penguins longtime starter who sat last spring as Murray carried Pittsburgh to the Stanley Cup.

"I'm always used to getting right back in net, that's what I like, but now it's a different situation," said Fleury, who have given up only two regulation-time goals in his last two starts. "I've got to find ways to be sharp when my turn comes."

The Devils, barely able to get off a shot until the middle of the second period, lost their eighth in nine games and fell to 1-6-1 in their last eight games in Pittsburgh -- including a 4-3 shootout loss on Nov. 26 when Crosby tied it with only 14 seconds left in regulation.

"It's felt like that for six weeks now, sometimes we do nothing wrong and the puck ends up in our net and sometimes we make mistakes and the puck ends up in our net," Devils goalie Cory Schneider said.

Crosby got the first one in this game, and the Penguins never trailed. Ruhwedel's goal late in the second restored their two-goal lead, and Hornqvist finished it off with his second goal in three games after going seven games without a goal.

The Penguins are 9-0-1 in their last 10 home games.

"We play good here, we like to play here," Malkin said. "It's a good game for us, very important (to rebound)."

One night after the Penguins defense melted down by allowing seven consecutive goals, they allowed New Jersey only two shots -- both from long range -- while taking a 1-0 lead in the first period.

Crosby gets many of his goals from in close, but this time he beat goalie Cory Schneider with a one-timer from the right point off Justin Schultz's pass 11 minutes into the period -- his 24th goal of the season, second in as many games and seventh in nine games.

"He gets momentum for us in games so often. ... He's that dynamic of a player, an indication of his leadership. He's the heartbeat of this team," Sullivan said of Crosby. "When he plays the game he is right now, he's inspiring to the group."

Pittsburgh kept up the defensive pressure in the second period as New Jersey continued to struggle to get off shots. Fourth-line Penguins forward Fehr made it 2-0 at 4:13 by getting the final deflection of Matt Cullen's shot from in front.

The Devils, who ended a seven-game losing streak by shutting out Philadelphia 4-0 on Thursday night, broke through offensively when center Kyle Palmieri -- while screening Fleury on John Moore's shot -- found the puck laying in the crease and lifted it into the net.

But the Penguins got the goal back in the final minute of the period and from an unlikely source. Ruhwedel, a healthy scratch Thursday, found himself open above the circles and powered a wrist shot past Schneider for his first career goal in 35 NHL games dating to the 2012-13 season.

"It feels pretty good. I've waited for that for a while," said Ruhwedel, who broke in with Buffalo four years ago. "It feels awesome."

NOTES: Penguins G Marc-Andre Fleury started after rookie G Matt Murray allowed a career-high six goals Thursday in a 7-1 loss at Columbus. ... Devils F Jacob Josefson (concussion) missed a fourth consecutive game. ... Neither team had a morning skate. ... The teams are playing a holiday-interrupted back-to-back, with the next game Tuesday in Newark, N.J.. ... Penguins D Kris Letang (lower-body injury) and D Trevor Daley (upper-body injury) both remained out. ... Of Jaromir Jagr's 1,888 points, the second most in NHL history, more than half -- 1,079 -- came in his 11 Penguins seasons. ... The Devils scratched F Devante Smith-Pelly and D Kyle Quincey. The Penguins sat down D Derrick Pouliot.