A little bug is a big worry to the Devils when it strikes Martin Brodeur.

Already off five days, the Devils now could use more time before starting the second round against the Lightning. They want Brodeur to shake the ailment that has laid him low and kept him up at night.

“Just a little sick,” Brodeur said after leaving practice early yesterday. “Just a little virus. Probably from the kids.

“It kept me up most of the night.”

The ailment isn’t likely to imperil the Devils’ eight-time team MVP’s streak of starting their last 109 playoff games, but he might not be in peak form. He skated some 20-odd minutes of practice before exiting yesterday, the Devils having had enough warning to bring in Ari Ahonen as an extra practice goalie.

“The whole St. Louis team has it,” Pat Burns said. “You try to contain it and rest the guys. There’s not much you can do about it.”

The 30-year-old Brodeur has been nearly injury-immune during his career, but there was no barrier to this bug.

While Brodeur could use more time to regain his strength, he acknowledged his teammates might lose their edge from being off so long.

“It was good we lost that game [to Boston],” Brodeur said. “I don’t think we’ll be as sharp as we were in our last game. We’ll try, and we’re practicing for it.

“We’ll be rusty, but if it gets physical, it will be to our advantage to get that rest.”

Brodeur posted two shutouts in the Devils’ five-game triumph over the Bruins in the first round, raising his career total to 15, tied for second-most in the NHL history. He was yanked in the Game 4 loss, allowing five goals, but returned to close out the series with a shutout.

Ranking third in goals-against among regulars in these playoffs, Brodeur boasts a 1.69 goals-against average. Tampa Bay’s Nikolai Khabibulin brings a 2.07 mark into this series.

Brodeur went unbeaten against the Lightning this season, beating them 5-1 Oct. 25 at the Meadowlands and tying 3-3 Jan. 11 and 2-2 March 27 in Tampa. Corey Schwab suffered the Devils’ lone loss of the season series.

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Sergei Brylin hopes to obtain clearance today to return to action from broken wrist suffered Feb. 5 . . . Tampa Bay stands 3-0 on the road and 1-2 at home in playoffs. Devils are 3-0 at home and 1-1 on road . . . Patrik Elias led series against Bruins with three goals . . . Martin St. Louis led Lightning at 5-4-9 in six, with Vinny Prospal (3-2-5), Vincent Lecavalier (3-2-5) and Dave Andreychuk (2-3-5) next. John Madden (2-6-8) and Jamie Langenbrunner (5-2-7) led Devils’ five-game scoring.

St. Louis has three straight game-winning goals, a feat last accomplished by Pitt’s Kevin Stevens in 1991 . . . Devils also had Adrian Foster skating with team, rehabbing abdominal reinjury suffered in training camp. He was team’s 2001 first-rounder, slipping there because of abdominal injury.