"Did Dion Phaneuf suddenly find a dose of truculence stuffed in his stocking above the fireplace when he opened up his gifts Christmas morning?

It certainly seemed that way, judging by his play in the Maple Leafs' impressive 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils in snowy Newark Sunday night.

During his time with the Calgary Flames, Phaneuf was at his most effective when he played with an edge, the type of sandpaper style that would get under the skin of the opposition's top players.

True, he hasn't showcased that same in-your-face swagger on a nightly basis since coming over to the Leafs back on Jan. 31.

At the same time, the Leaf captain appears to be getting back to mid-season game shape after missing more than a month from a leg injury suffered when a skate blade gashed him behind the knee in early November.

On this night, that spelled bad news for the Devils. And, in particular, Ilya Kovalchuk.

Beginning in the first period, Phaneuf spent much of the game irritating New Jersey's $100-million US man, so much so that the two actually dropped the gloves in the second period. It was just the seventh career fight for Kovalchuk, who went fist city earlier this season with Washington Capitals defenceman Mike Green.

While the Leaf captain is a valuable cog on the Toronto blue line, the Leafs will take the Phaneuf-for-Kovalchuk tradeoff any day of the week. Physically goading Kovalchuk into taking a fighting major is a shrewd tactic on Phaneuf's part, even if it meant the Leaf defenceman also had to spend the next five minutes in the sin bin as well."