NHL Playoffs | Dallas' Marty Turco endures 4-OT test

DALLAS — As the third overtime turned to a fourth Sunday night, Dallas Stars goaltender Marty Turco could think back to two other playoff marathons he was in and how he felt afterward.

The dead-limbed weariness. The strange sensation of calm after being so intense for so long. The day-after crash from being physically and mentally drained. And, worst of all, the sting of losing.

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 league history. The victory ended their second-round series in six games, earning the Stars a spot in the best-of-seven Western Conference final series for the first time in Turco's career.

"It's nice to be on this side of it for once," said Turco, who made 61 saves. "We've had some long ones before. But none of them was more memorable than this one. It was 99 percent fun tonight."

Dallas won the Stanley Cup in 1999 and lost to New Jersey in the 2000 Final, but hadn't advanced past the second round again until this year. Along the way, 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 Dallas in those losses.

"This one ranks the best for me," Tippett said after winning. "It's way nicer when it ends this way."

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said his staff began paying attention to the Stars when they took control of the San Jose series.

"Because they played two games last night," Babcock said, "we got to watch them even closer."

Pennsylvania feud

PITTSBURGH — Evgeni Malkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins' Russian-born standout, remains a man of few words as he learns English and its nuances.

One subject, though, gets the 21-year-old talking: the Philadelphia Flyers, who will play the Penguins in the East final series that starts Friday in Pittsburgh.

Malkin recalled an 8-2 loss in Philadelphia on Dec. 11, how the Flyers bullied the Penguins and got them off their game by inducing fights. He remembers popcorn being dumped on the Penguins' bench by spectators.

"That's one of the teams that it's really not a pleasure to play against," Malkin said. "I really don't like playing against them. I don't like that team."

The Penguins and Flyers both joined the league in 1967. Their rivalry has been long, lively and occasionally bloody.

This season alone, there have been accusations or insinuations of running up the score, diving and, even, game dumping.

"The playoffs are always intense but it throws a little spice into it when it's Philadelphia and Pittsburgh," said Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby. "It doesn't get any easier."

The Flyers were the first NHL team to accuse Crosby of diving — embellishing contact to draw a penalty.

In 20 games against the Flyers, Crosby has collected 16 goals and 21 assists.

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh would have met in the first round if the Penguins hadn't lost 2-0 in Philadelphia on April 6, costing them the No. 1 seed in the East.

Ottawa coach Bryan Murray all but said the Penguins intentionally dumped the game to avoid meeting the Flyers and to play his team in the first round.