Washington, DC (Sports Network) - John Madden's goal with 50 seconds left in overtime lifted the New Jersey Devils past the Washington Capitals, 2-1, at the Verizon Center

Martin Brodeur made 37 saves for the Devils, who have won five straight. Jamie Langenbrunner scored and Patrik Elias had two assists in the win.

"Marty Brodeur was outstanding," said Devils coach Brent Sutter. "He made a lot of great saves. I don't think we played intelligently throughout the first two periods. It was a game I worried about coming off a big game last night. I was a little worried about a letdown but we stayed with it and played a much more intelligent third period."

The Devils have also won seven of their last eight contests and are currently atop the Atlantic Division with 79 points. New Jersey entered just one point ahead of Pittsburgh, which fell 2-1 in a shootout to San Jose Sunday.

Jersey also moved one point ahead of Ottawa for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The Senators are idle Sunday.

Alexander Semin tallied for the Capitals, who have dropped three straight and five of their last six. Brent Johnson made 29 stops in the loss.

The game was scoreless until Langenbrunner beat Johnson 39 seconds into the third period with a slap shot high to the stick side. Langenbrunner's 11th goal of the season came on a 5-on-3 power play and gave New Jersey a 1-0 edge.

Semin tied it for the Caps at 2:46 of the final period with his 19th tally of the season. After taking a pass from Alexander Ovechkin, Semin skated through a couple New Jersey defenders and beat Brodeur with a backhand shot in front of the net.

In the overtime, Washington dominated the play but all it took was one rush for New Jersey to win it. Elias fired a slap shot that Johnson saved but the rebound was backhanded into the net by Madden.

"I did see it," said Johnson. "It went through a maze of guys. I don't know if it hit the crossbar or the post but it must have dropped right in front of my pad. Madden got his backhand on it, I thought my pad was down but the puck slid right under the pad."