The Devils ended their western Canadian tour with a 1-1-1 record after they defeated the Calgary Flames 1-0 in overtime Sunday night. The Devils picked up four of a possible six points during their road trip. They are now five points ahead of the second place New York Rangers, who suffered yet another loss on Sunday night against the Ottawa Senators.

Just 1:02 into the first period, Dion Phaneuf and Colin White bumped heads as Phaneuf was bringing the puck down into the Devils’ zone. As White sized up Phaneuf and blocked him from moving further down the ice, Phaneuf began taking swings at White, which led to other members of the Flames running up to assist Phaneuf by taking additional swings at White. By that time, both teams were piled up around White and Phaneuf trying to pull them apart. The next and final scruff of the game was at 6:43 when Sheldon Brookbank and Eric Nystrom dropped the gloves at center ice. Nystrom was no match for Brookbank as he took him down just seconds later.

The Devils/Calgary showdown went scoreless through regulation, with the Devils going 6-for-6 on the penalty kill. It was just 25 seconds into sudden death when Patrik Elias was able to make a steal for the puck after it was mishandled by Calgary’s Craig Conroy. Elias and Brian Gionta both headed out of the Devils’ zone, making a scramble down the ice. Elias sent a pass across to Gionta as they entered into the Calgary zone. A 2-on-1 pursued against Robyn Regehr. Gionta put a pass back across to Elias which bounced off his stick and past Miikka Kiprusoff, sending the Devils home with a Christmas win. Martin Brodeur said of the Elias/Gionta game winner, “It’s fun, especially when you play well, and guys come up with a big play like that in overtime. It’s always something for a goalie, especially when you have a shutout working. It’s something nice.”

Brodeur had a lot to smile about after the game. He made 30 saves and recorded his third shutout of the season, his 95th in his career. He is currently in sole possession of second place on the league’s all-time regular season shutout list. He was previously tied for second with George Hainsworth. He is now looking to gain nine more shutouts to be in first place overall (Terry Sawchuk is currently in first with 103 shutout wins). With regular season and playoffs combined, Brodeur owns the first place title with 117 shutouts.

The Devils will spend the majority of the holiday week off, and will play again on Friday against the Buffalo Sabres in Prudential Center. The Sabres' next home game will be against the Pittsburgh Penguins on New Year’s Day in the NHL’s first outdoor hockey game to be played in North America. The game will air on NBC at 1 p.m.