By Jaime Aron
The Associated Press

DALLAS - The eighth and final period began with the public-address announcer telling fans, "Good morning." Within a minute, Anaheim's Petr Sykora made it feel like a long, bad night for the Dallas Stars.

Sykora ended the fourth-longest game in NHL history when he fired a shot past the stick of Dallas goaltender Marty Turco 48 seconds into the fifth overtime early Friday, continuing the Mighty Ducks' stunning postseason run with a 4-3 victory in the opener of their second-round series.

"I'm so proud of everybody in here," said Steve Thomas, who had a goal disallowed in the third overtime. "In the end, we came through because we persevered."

Turco said Sykora's goal came on "a bang-bang play."

"That's the way it goes," he said. "We need to concentrate on emotionally getting back and preparing for Game 2. Of course it hurts. It hurts all over. But we've got to play tomorrow."

Seventh-seeded Anaheim, which swept defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit in the first round, is 5-0 in the playoffs, with three wins in overtime. The Ducks have needed nine extra periods, but goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere has made it worth every second.

Anaheim will certainly be on an emotional high when Game 2 begins about 371/2 hours after this one ended. The Mighty Ducks' upset of the second-seeded Red Wings began with a three-overtime win. Now, they've gone five extra periods to beat the No. 1 seed.

"We played hard, that's all," Anaheim coach Mike Babcock said. "Guys are exhausted and guys are dehydrated, but a win gives you a chance to get your energy back."

The game went 80 minutes, 48 seconds beyond regulation. The most recent game that lasted longer was No. 3 on the all-time list, a 2-1 victory by Philadelphia over Pittsburgh on May 4, 2000. Keith Primeau had that winner after 92:01.

In real time, this one took 5:52 - from 6:40 p.m. until 12:32 a.m CDT.

"That's playoff hockey at it's finest right there," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said.

The deciding play began when Turco failed to corral the puck behind the net. While he skated back to the goal, Anaheim's Adam Oates pulled it off the boards and centered to a wide-open Sykora. Mike Leclerc also had an assist on what's certainly among the most memorable goals in the franchise's 10-year history.

"This is just a goal," said Sykora, who had one assist and no goals in the first round. "Hopefully this may get me out of the slump I've been in. "

The winners surrounded Sykora in celebration, while the losers hurried to the comforts of their locker room. The remaining members of a crowd that started at 18,532 stood for a brief ovation.

Anaheim thought it won when the puck went in off Thomas's leg with 5:19 left in the third OT. Officials overruled it because the edge of the goal had popped off. The ruling was made in consulation with the league office in Toronto.

"I saw it go in and I didn't see the net go off the moorings," Thomas said. "I thought we won the game. It's tough to swallow that one at that point."

Said Tippett: "That was a break for us. You take every break you can get."

With 13:02 left in the fourth overtime, fans briefly celebrated when a long shot from Dallas' Philippe Boucher went in. However, officials clearly whistled the Stars for being offside before he shot.

Giguere, the star of the first-round sweep of the Red Wings, made 60 saves, 40 in overtime. The three goals he allowed were his most this postseason and he failed to glove the tying goal with 2:47 left in regulation.

But he more than made up for it.

"I thought we had ample chances, but you've got to find a way to bury those chances," Tippett said.

Turco made 50 saves.

"Those saves were phenomenal by both goalies," Babcock said.

The only benefit to having such a long game in the opener is both teams came in rested. The Ducks hadn't played in eight days and the Stars in four.

The Stars won their three previous games that had gone three OTs, including the game that clinched the 1999 Stanley Cup. That is remembered in Buffalo for Brett Hull scoring the winner with his foot in the crease of Buffalo goalie Dominik Hasek.

The Stars also won Game 5 of the 2000 Cup finals over New Jersey in three OTs. This was the first time the Stars played one of those marathons at home.

The scorers in regulation were Jason Krog, Niedermayer and Rucchin for Anaheim, Derian Hatcher, Jason Arnott and Brenden Morrow for Dallas.

But when Giguere missed Morrow's deflection with 2:47 left in regulation, it led to a very long night.

By the end, when everyone was so fatigued and so afraid of making the game-ending mistake, the action went practically in slow motion. Midway through the third OT, the Stars went to their least-used player, David Oliver, but he left with an injury after less than a minute.

Officials were there mainly to monitor offsides and icing, because there was no way they were going to call any penalties. They called only six all game, the last coming against Anaheim in the first overtime.

All 36 skaters will probably have their near-miss stories. Anaheim's Paul Kariya will talk about the hard shot off Turco's shoulder just before the second OT expired. Dallas' Stu Barnes will lament hitting the crossbar with one minute left in the third OT.

Both goalies can talk about their great saves - if they can remember them all. Had it been a boxing match, Turco would've won the first OT, Giguere the second and third, with the fourth going down as a draw as each made two superb stops in the final 1:45.

Fans chanted "Mar-ty" and "Let's go Stars" as often as they could in hopes of energizing the Stars. They tried keeping themselves awake by doing the wave before the seventh period.

Devils 3, Lightning 0

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Jamie Langenbrunner had a goal and an assist 3:47 apart in the third period, and Martin Brodeur made 15 saves in his third shutout of these playoffs.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday. The Lightning will be looking for a better effort in their first appearance in the conference semifinals in 11 years of existence.

Brodeur and the Devils eliminated Boston in the first round with a 3-0 victory in Game 5. They made it back-to-back blankings with a stellar defensive effort, the fifth time Brodeur had consecutive playoff shutouts.

Langenbrunner, who had five goals and seven points in the first round, broke the deadlock 7:41 into the third period on a long shot that beat Nikolai Khabibulin.