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We may never know how many people really eyeballed Brenden Morrow's series-clinching goal at 1:24 a.m. Monday. But we do know how many Dallas-Fort Worth homes were tuned into the game on Fox Sports Net Southwest from 1:15 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.

The television rating for that quarter hour was a 3.9 with an 18 share. The rating translates into 94,988 homes, according to Nielsen Media Research. The 18 share means that 18 percent of all homes with televisions in use were tuned to the final minutes of the Stars' 2-1, four-overtime victory over the San Jose Sharks.

Overall, the game scored a Stars playoff-high 4.4 average rating (107,166 homes), with an 11 share from 8 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. It peaked in the third period from 10:30 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. with a 6.0 rating (146,136 homes).

Versus, NBC taking over: The first four games of the Stars-Detroit Red Wings Western Conference finals belong to cable's Versus network. If there is no series sweep, Game 5 will belong to NBC on Saturday afternoon, May 17.

Games 6 and 7 would revert to Versus, which, on most cable systems, is available in the same homes as FSNSW.

Looking ahead to the Stanley Cup Finals, Versus owns the rights to the first two games with NBC broadcasting the remainder of the series.

Mike Emrick, considered by most to be hockey's preeminent play-by-play voice, and analyst Eddie Olczyk, will call the Stars-Red Wings series for Versus.

The cable home of the NHL averaged a 0.3 rating for regular-season games and a 0.4 for first-round playoff games.

Big score: The networks are giddy to have the Red Wings still playing. Detroit is the No. 1 NHL television market.

"If there is a national hockey team, it would be the Red Wings," NBC spokesman Brian Walker said. "They are the NHL version of the Dallas Cowboys. While we don't root, we are very pleased with all four markets left in the playoffs."

Philadelphia is the fourth-largest TV market in the United States, Dallas-Fort Worth is fifth, Detroit is 11th and Pittsburgh is No. 22. These will be the first conference finals without a Canadian team since 2001.

That may be sad news north of the border, but it's good for U.S. television networks, which depend heavily on home markets to boost ratings.

Working overtime: Stars broadcasters Ralph Strangis and Daryl Reaugh together have now called three of the eight longest games in NHL history. The Stars-Sharks, which went 9:03 into the fourth overtime, ranks No. 8.

No. 6 is the Stars' first-game loss to Vancouver in the opening round last season (18:06 into the fourth overtime). No. 4 is the Stars' first-game loss to Anaheim in the 2003 second round (48 seconds into the fifth overtime).

"I'm used to it," Strangis said. "There is so much adrenaline, you can't get tired. You just want to make sure you get everything right."