Penguins 4

Devils 2

This loss was so galling, the coach questioned the very hearts of his Stanley Cup champs.

“I’m going to have to check their hearts, check their heads, see where they’re going,” Pat Burns said. “Definitely, it’s gut-check time.”

The Devils coach teed off on his team after they lost their third in five, this time 4-2 to pitiful Pittsburgh, among the worst teams in the NHL.

“Unmotivated, undisciplined, uninspired,” Burns charged. “Was it preparation? I’ll take responsibility. Was it motivation? I’ll take responsibility. What goes on on the ice is not my responsibility. I can’t play the game for them. They just weren’t ready.

“It’s not just tonight.”

After questioning the fiber of his champions, Burns went back into the locker room to order all of his players to their stalls to face the press. It was an act that displayed his utter disgust, throwing to the scribes the players this organization goes to such lengths to insulate from the media. He asked the press to question the players pointedly, to discover the ailment so he could prescribe the solution. There were no clear insights forthcoming.

“Motivation and discipline; if you need the coaching staff to motivate you, you’ve got problems,” John Madden said. “Those are the two areas we have to improve on, come ready to play and not play in spurts. And discipline, we took three penalties in the first . . . What’s that?

“If you’re going to take a penalty, you’d better hurt somebody.”

The Devils were shaky from the start against a Penguins team whose last hope vanished this week when Mario Lemieux scheduled season-ending hip surgery.

Martin Brodeur was victimized twice in the first. Mike Eastwood was first to feast, cutting to the slot from a left-wing rush after Scott Niedermayer was picked by Steve McKenna. Eastwood’s soft floater found the corner over Brodeur’s waffle at 10:38.

There were 17.9 seconds left in the first when Niedermayer and Brodeur combined on another remarkable Penguins goal. Niedermayer was skating toward his end boards, in his defensive left-wing corner, hounded by Penguin Matt Bradley, when he passed backhand in an attempt to put the puck behind the net. His aim was errant, a perfect shot at the short side, going in off Brodeur’s stick and credited to Bradley.

“Both goals were my responsibility,” Niedermayer said, perhaps a scapegoat for others.

Many in the usual paltry crowd of 11,498 booed the Devils as they left for intermission and resumed when Ryan Malone stretched Pitt’s lead to 3-0 with a power-play goal 1:58 into the second.

Patrik Elias brought the Devils within one 2:39 into the third. Turner Stevenson launched Scott Gomez past Brian Holzinger for a 2-on-1, feeding Elias in the right circle for the one-timer past J.S. Aubin’s short side.

Eric Meloche ended the drama with 19.9 seconds remaining into the empty net.

“We have to do better. We’re saying it right now, but we’re not doing it,” Niedermayer said. “There’s a big difference.”

Now, Burns’ faith in his champs is no longer absolute.

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Ken Daneyko Night is tomorrow, honoring the all-time Devil when Tampa Bay visits the Meadowlands.