In Eastern Conference action, Scott Walker's first playoff goal proved to be a significant one as his overtime marker lifted the Carolina Hurricanes to a stunning 3–2 win over the top-seeded Boston Bruins in their series decider.
Cleary's tip-in with three minutes remaining sent the home fans into raptures and put the Stanley Cup champions on course for a series against the Chicago Blackhawks.
"The puck was right there and I just made sure to stay with it. I was pretty happy it went in," Cleary told reporters after he followed up team mate Henrik Zetterberg's shot.
"I treated (tonight) like an elimination game with our backs against the wall.
"It was a fun game to be a part of considering the outcome."
In a final game decider between the last two Stanley Cup champions, Detroit took a 2-0 lead with goals from Jiri Hudler and Darren Helm before Anaheim's Teemu Selanne halved the deficit.
Mikael Samuelsson then responded with a snap-shot at 16:23 in the second period to make it 3–1.
Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan scored for Anaheim to even the contest at 3-3 in the third period before Cleary popped up to score the winner.
Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller made 36 saves to cap an exceptional performance in his first postseason.
The eighth-seeded Ducks had previously upset top-seeded San Jose in the first round, and were seeking to beat the Red Wings in a playoff series for the third successive time.
Game Plan
In Boston, Walker swooped in to clean up a shot from Ray Whitney for the game-winner that put the Hurricanes into the conference finals where they will face the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"It was a goal by a good guy. He played phenomenal tonight and he's such a competitor and a team guy," Eric Staal said of his team mate.
"We stayed with our game plan. It's unfortunate we gave one up in the third but we knew we'd eventually get one (back)."
The Bruins, trying to rally back from a 3–1 series deficit and reach their first conference finals since 1992, forced overtime with a Milan Lucic goal at 6:19 in the third.
Byron Bitz gave Boston an early 1–0 advantage at 7:42 in the first and Carolina came back with goals from Rod Brind'Amour and Sergei Samsonov.
Carolina goaltender Cam Ward recorded 34 saves to match the total by Bruins netminder Tim Thomas.
