Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov catches the puck shot by Stars forward Brad Richards (91) during the first overtime period during Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinal playoff series. (AP Photo)
For a while last night today, it looked as though you would be enjoying your morning ham and eggs with Evgeni and Marty.
If you are like me, there are stifled yawns and bleary eyes scattered all through the office, but damnit, was it not worth it?
To say that was a goaltending duel is like saying Eva Longoria wears awesome shoes.
That wasn't a duel as much as wondering which brick wall would crumble first.
Didn't stay awake until the wee hours of this morning to watch the Dallas Stars send the snake-bitten San Jose Sharks home early yet again? Too bad.
You missed something special.
Evgeni Nabokov and Marty Turco put on a show for more than 129 minutes that will go down as one of the greatest one-night save-for-save battles ever. And after Brenden Morrow, in the fourth overtime period, finally turned out the lights on both the American Airlines Center and the Sharks' 2008 season, we were allowed to exhale, curse Monday mornings and catch a few - very few - winks.
On a night where Dallas and San Jose showed how the game should be played, it was Turco and Nabokov who made sure it went on as long as possible. Turco made 61 of 62 saves, many of the acrobatic, highlight-reel variety, while Nabokov's glove save off Brad Richards in OT quite simply defies both logic and physics.
Just as he was for most of the Calgary/San Jose series, Nabokov looked very ordinary in the opening two games of this set with the Stars before finding his groove and giving the Sharks the chance to, if nothing else, get Dallas thinking about the 1975 Islanders.
In the end, the Sharks couldn't climb out of the hole they dug themselves.
On Sunday night, Nabokov did all he could to get back to San Jose for an improbable deciding game.
Marty Turco made sure one more trip to California wasn't necessary.