DETROIT — The Detroit Red Wings were pushed to the brink of elimination on home ice by the Anaheim Ducks.

Dan Cleary came through, though, scoring a tiebreaking goal with 3 minutes left that lifted Detroit to a 4-3 win last night that sent the defending Stanley Cup champions to the Western Conference finals for the third straight year.

"Most teams that have won the Stanley Cup don't even get here," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "For us to be in this situation is a real positive, but we have a hungry Chicago team waiting for us."

Detroit will host the Blackhawks in Game 1 on Sunday, matching up the Original Six teams in the playoffs for the first time since the conference finals in 1995.

"It should be fun," Babcock said.

ANAHEIM 0 2 1 — 3

DETROIT 1 2 1 — 4

First Period—1, Detroit, Hudler 4 (Franzen, Zetterberg), 15:43 (pp).

Second Period—2, Detroit, Helm 2 (Hossa), 1:17. 3, Anaheim, Selanne 4 (Carter, Whitney), 14:50. 4, Detroit, Samuelsson 3 (Datsyuk, Filppula), 16:23. 5, Anaheim, Perry 8 (Pronger, Selanne), 17:12 (pp).

Third Period—6, Anaheim, Ryan 5 (Perry, S.Niedermayer), 7:37. 7, Detroit, Cleary 3 (Zetterberg, Lidstrom), 17:00.

Shots on Goal—Anaheim 6-14-7—27. Detroit 17-8-15—40.

Goalies—Anaheim, Hiller. Detroit, Osgood. A—20,066 (20,066). T—2:31.

HURRICANES 3, BRUINS 2

Scott Walker scored his first NHL playoff goal 18:46 into overtime, sending visiting Carolina into the Eastern Conference finals with a victory over Boston.

Walker's goal "sucks the life out of you," said Boston's Milan Lucic, who tied the game 2-2 at 6:19 of the third period. "We worked hard to get back in the series and don't get rewarded."

Carolina will face the Pittsburgh Penguins, who beat the Washington Capitals in Game 7 of that series on Wednesday, in the East finals.

CAROLINA 1 1 0 1 — 3

BOSTON 1 0 1 0 — 2

First Period—1, Boston, Bitz 1 (Krejci, Ryder), 7:42. 2, Carolina, Brind'Amour 1 (Seidenberg, Pitkanen), 13:59.

Second Period—3, Carolina, Samsonov 4 (Pitkanen, Kaberle), 7:45.

Third Period—4, Boston, Lucic 3 (Savard, Kessel), 6:19.

First Overtime—5, Carolina, Walker 1 (Whitney, Seidenberg), 18:46.

Shots on Goal—Carolina 10-10-9-8—37. Boston 11-6-11-8—36.

Goalies—Carolina, C.Ward 8-6-0 (36 shots-34 saves). Boston, Thomas 7-4-0 (37-34).

A—17,565 (17,565). T—3:13.

CONFERENCE FINALS

(BEST-OF-7, HAWAI'I TIMES)

EASTERN CONFERENCE

CAROLINA VS. PITTSBURGH

Monday—Carolina at Pittsburgh, 1:30 p.m.

Thurs.—Carolina at Pittsburgh, 1:30 p.m.

May 23—Pittsburgh at Carolina, 1:30 p.m.

May 26—Pittsburgh at Carolina, 1:30 p.m.

x-May 29—Carolina at Pittsburgh, 1:30 p.m.

x-May 31—Pittsburgh at Carolina, 1:30 p.m.

x-June 2—Carolina at Pittsburgh, 1:30 p.m.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

CHICAGO VS. DETROIT

Sunday—Chicago at Detroit, 9 a.m.

Tuesday—Chicago at Detroit, 1:30 p.m.

May 22—Detroit at Chicago, 2 p.m.

May 24—Detroit at Chicago, 9 a.m.

x-May 27—Chicago at Detroit, 1:30 p.m.

x-May 30—Detroit at Chicago, 2 p.m.

x-June 1—Chicago at Detroit, 1:30 p.m.

x-if necessary