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SAN JOSE – Game 1 of the Stars-Sharks series Friday night was clearly less physical than anything the teams had to fight through in their first-round series wins over the Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames.

Expect that to change quickly as the series moves along.

The Stars also were surprisingly incapable of mounting any kind of consistent attack on Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov. They finished with 18 shots on goal.

And that included overtime.

And they still won.

Meet the new opportunistic Dallas Stars, who steal wins even when they may not fully deserve them.

Brenden Morrow's second goal of the night just 4:39 into sudden death gave Dallas a 3-2 victory at HP Pavilion in Game 1.

"It's exciting to see him lead this team," goaltender Marty Turco said. "I've had a center seat for his career."

This was a game that was played mostly around Turco's net. San Jose outshot Dallas, 27-18, and had the far better scoring chances. But it was a game that ended with the puck in Nabokov's net, which is really the only thing that matters.

It looked as if Dallas was going to be just opportunistic enough to prevail in regulation. The Stars carried a 2-1 lead into the final four minutes, even though they would finish regulation with only 15 shots on goal.

Goals by Mike Modano (on the power play) and Morrow just three minutes apart in the second period might have been all the Stars needed to capture another series opener on the road.

But the Sharks stayed on the attack, and Jonathan Cheechoo was able to drive a puck past Turco in a big scuffle in the crease to tie the score at 2-2 with 3:02 to play in regulation, sending the game into overtime.

No one expected this series, especially Game 1, to be as physical as these teams' last battles. The Ducks play a physical game and are unafraid to take penalties. Eventually, that was Anaheim's undoing against Dallas, which moved into the second round with the best power-play percentage (26.3) among the first-round winners.

And Calgary plays an all-out physical style that Sharks coach Ron Wilson described as "a rumba. They are going to step on your feet, and you are going to have to step back on theirs."

But there was a surprisingly passive tone to this game at times. The best example came on Modano's goal from the point that tied the score, after the Sharks' Milan Michalek had registered his first point of the playoffs with a goal on a feed from Joe Thornton.

The Sharks' Patrick Marleau was directly in front of Modano, and he actually jumped to avoid having the puck hit his skates.

Somewhere, Craig Ludwig is turning over in his ... well, actually, Ludwig's not dead yet, but you know what I mean.

Normally, in the Stanley Cup playoffs, you see defensemen and forwards hitting the ice, giving up their bodies to block shots, especially on power plays.

I guess Marleau didn't want to give up his blades.

Still, Dallas knows it has to make some changes as this series moves along quickly with three games in four nights, starting in San Jose on Sunday.

The Stars can't rely on Turco and the defense to be under siege for two-thirds of the game and advance.

You know San Jose will return with a singular purpose Sunday night. After losing their opener at home to Calgary, the Sharks had 27 shots on goal in Game 2.

In the second period.

Dallas survived Game 1,and that's far better than losing. But this series is just beginning, and the opportunistic Stars have a long way to go.

"We appreciate the win," coach Dave Tippett said. "We certainly realize that our level is going to have to go up."