Matt Duchene scored the only goal in the shootout as the Colorado Avalanche clinched a playoff spot with a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
Duchene beat Canuck goaltender Roberto Luongo with a forehand shot. The win, combined the Calgary Flames' 2-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks, secured Colorado a playoff spot.
Daniel Sedin tied the game 3-3 with his second goal of the night at 15:54 of the third period.
With Brandon Yip off for hooking, Sedin took a pass from his twin brother Henrik and fired a low, hard shot that beat Avalanche goaltender Craig Anderson on the far side. It was his 26th goal of the year.
The assist allowed Henrik Sedin to stay one point ahead of Washington's Alexander Ovechkin for the NHL scoring race.
Daniel Sedin had a chance to win the game in the five-minute overtime on a breakaway. But defenceman John-Michael Liles managed to stick-check him from behind.
Mason Raymond, with his 25th goal of the season, also scored for the Canucks.
Darcy Tucker, T.J. Galiardi and Paul Stastny scored for Colorado.
The Avs played with more emotion and attitude than the Canucks, who already had the Northwest Division title sown up.
The win improved the Avs record to 43-29-7 for 93 points with three games left.
The Flames have 89 points with two games left and will miss the playoffs, as the Avalanche hold the tiebreaker with more wins should the teams finish tied.
Vancouver's record is 48-27-4 for 101 points.
Henrik Sedin has 107 points. Ovechkin had a pair of goals in the Capital's 6-3 win over Pittsburgh, giving him 106 points.
A sellout crowd of 18,810 saw Colorado hold period leads of 2-1 and 3-2.
Tucker opened the scoring at 6:17 of the first when he gobbled up an Alex Edler giveaway, then fired a shot past a screened Luongo.
Vancouver got that one back at 17:59 when defenceman Sami Salo let go a blast that was wide of the net. Daniel Sedin shovelled the rebound past Anderson.
It took the Avs just 57 seconds to retake the lead on a play where Luongo did not look sharp.
The Canuck goaltender stopped Galiardi's weak backhand but had trouble controlling the puck, then knocked it into his own net.
Raymond tied the score again early in the second during a two-on-one breakaway. The speedy forward used Steve Bernier as a decoy, then fired a high shot past Anderson on the stick side.
Stastny put Colorado ahead at 14:07 of the second. He took a pretty feed from Christ Steward and directed the puck past Luongo.
The Canucks were without defenceman Christian Ehrhoff who is out with a strained left knee. Team officials said Ehrhoff, who leads the team by averaging almost 23 minutes a game, could have dressed if it was a playoff game.
On the plus side, Bernier returned after missing 17 games following surgery for a sports hernia.
Missing from the Avalanche lineup was Peter Mueller, who has nine goals and 11 assists in 15 games since being acquired from Phoenix at the trade deadline deal. Mueller suffered a concussion Sunday when hit into the boards by San Jose's Rob Blake.
Notes -- Centre Ryan Johnson is out four to six weeks with a broken foot. ...Defenceman Shane O'Brien returned to the lineup after missing four games for disciplinary reasons. ...Vancouver has recalled left-winger Matt Pettinger from the AHL Manitoba Moose.
