Weary Stars vow to rise up against Red Wings

By Larry Fine

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dallas Stars were weary after their quadruple overtime win over San Jose in the early hours of Monday, but still eager to play the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL Western Conference Finals starting on Thursday.

"It's like playing back-to-back games from a conditioning standpoint," goalie Marty Turco told reporters about the five-hour 14-minute second-round series clincher against the Sharks in a conference call on Tuesday.

"Yesterday I know there were a few guys didn't sleep as long as they would have liked. Got up with the mind wandering, the body aching a little bit. This morning was reality a little bit more, a little extra stiffness than most mornings."

Hard-hitting captain Brenden Morrow scored a power-play goal to lift the Stars to their first conference final since 2000 with the 2-1 win in Dallas that clinched the best-of-seven series 4-2.

"It felt like it was two games' worth of hitting. Body was a little drained yesterday. Every time you got down in the chair, it was pretty tough getting up," Morrow said. "Just losing all those fluids, aches and pains. They've gone away from yesterday to today, though.

MARATHON GAME

"It was grueling playing that many minutes, trying to play the same way, play physical. It took its toll. But it was well worth it."

Turco played brilliantly against the Sharks, turning away 61 of 62 shots in Sunday's marathon game.