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Turco Savors Winning NHL Marathon

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By JAIME ARON

The Associated Press

Published: May 6, 2008

DALLAS - As the third overtime turned to a fourth, more than an hour after Sunday night became Monday morning, Stars goaltender Marty Turco could think back to the other two NHL playoff marathons he played and what it was like afterward.

The dead-limbed weariness. The strange sensation of calm after being so intense for so long. The day-after crash from being so physically and mentally drained.

And, worst of all, the sting of losing a two-games-in-one thriller.

This time, though, Turco got to find out how the other half lives. Thanks to captain Brenden Morrow's power-play goal 129:03 after the first puck was dropped, the Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in the eighth-longest game in NHL history. The victory ended their second-round series in six games, earning the Stars a spot in the Western Conference finals.

"It's nice to be on this side of it for once," Turco said. "We've had some long ones before. But none of them was more memorable than this one."

Dallas has been involved in five of the 18 longest games in NHL history, more than any other club. All have come since 1999, the year the Stars won their lone Stanley Cup title - in triple OT, of course.

Disappointments have included losing to Anaheim 48 seconds into a fifth overtime in 2003 and losing to Vancouver 18:06 into a fourth overtime last year.

Turco was in goal and Dave Tippett was coaching in both those losses. So for them, finally getting to the conference finals, and getting there like this, is something they'll never forget.

"This one ranks the best for me," Tippett said.

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