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Canucks clinch playoff berth with SO win over Red Wings

Apr 21, 2013 - 6:25 AM Vancouver, BC (Sports Network) - Maxim Lapierre scored the winner in the third round of the shootout as the Vancouver Canucks took a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

Lapierre stickhandled his way down low and lifted a backhand over Jimmy Howard and Cory Schneider made a save on Damien Brunner's shot to preserve the win.

With the win, Vancouver clinched a playoff spot, as did idle Los Angeles, and the Canucks hold a six-point lead over Minnesota for first place in the Northwest Division and third in the Western Conference.

"We're just happy to get the win. It doesn't matter what the score is, we clinched a playoff spot. We're just happy with ourselves tonight," Lapierre said.

Alexander Edler scored the lone goal of the game while Schneider made 33 stops for the Canucks, who had lost three of four coming in.

Detroit, meanwhile, is fighting to keep from being locked out of the playoffs for the first time since 1990. With 48 points, the team is one back of Columbus for the eighth spot in the Western Conference.

Cory Emmerton scored the only goal while Howard made 13 saves for the Red Wings, who have dropped five of their last six games.

"I though our team had good process, played hard and spent a lot of time in their zone and did good things, but we weren't rewarded with a second point," Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock said.

Vancouver got the first goal of the game and it came on the power play as Edler's blast from the right point beat Howard at the 12;15 mark of the first period.

The Red Wings tied the game with just 20.6 seconds to go in the first period as Brunner's shot from the right circle was deflected in by Emmerton for his fifth of the year.

Howard needed to make just 10 saves the rest of the way, while Schneider stopped 25 shots, 17 of which came in the third period, to force the shootout.

Game Notes

Detroit hosts Phoenix on Monday ... Vancouver hosts Chicago on Monday ... The Red Wings had won the previous two games against the Canucks this season ... Vancouver went 1-for-4 on the power play while Detroit was 0-for-3.