Ducks triumph in epic

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Sykora scored in the fifth period of overtime

Anaheim battled through the fourth longest game in NHL history with a 4-3 victory over the Dallas on Thursday.

The Western Conference game lasted 80 minutes, 48 seconds beyond the regulation time, but in real time it was almost six hours.

Ducks' Petr Sykora ended the marathon match when he pushed a shot beyond the stick of Dallas goalkeeper Marty Turco.

Turco had allowed Anaheim's Adam Oates to steal the puck off the boards, he then centred it for Sykora to score his first play-off goal since 2001.

Anaheim thought they had the match won in the third period of overtime when the puck went in off Steve Thomas' leg.

But the goal was disallowed because officials ruled the edge of the goal had popped off.

The Ducks take a 1-0 lead in the play-off series to Dallas for game two on Saturday.

The New Jersey Devils got their Eastern Conference play-off semi-finals off to the perfect start beating Tampa Bay 3-0.

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Langenbrunner gots the Devils off the mark

Jamie Langenbrunner broke the deadlock in the third period beating Lightning's Russian keeper Nikolai Khabibulin with a wrist shot.

John Madden and Turner Stevenson also got on the scoresheet to ensure the Devils remain the only unbeaten side in the post-season.

At the other end Martin Brodeur made 15 saves to complete his third shut-out of the play-offs.

The 30-year-old now lies in second place on the all-time list as it was his 16th career cleansheet in the play-offs.

The Devils, who had a week off after eliminating Boston in the first round, took a while to warm-up in attack but they put in another solid defensive performance.

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5 PERIODS OF OVERTIME! Holy shit! Credit to the Ducks! They've beaten the Wings...so this is no fluke! The Ducks for the Stanley Cup? Imagine waking up in Anaheim and seeing 'Underdogs win Stanley Cup' on the Front Page of your local newspaper. Second time in a year too...with the Angels kicking ass in the World Series.