Gildenregeln » off series, but the Rangers had won six straight postse

NEW YORK -- Even the King at his best needed some help to keep the Kings from lifting the Stanley Cup at Madison Square Garden. Yeezy Baratas España . Henrik Lundqvist got that in the form of season-saving plays by Anton Stralman and Derek Stepan on the goal-line and did the rest himself, willing the New York Rangers to a 2-1 victory in Game 4 of the Cup final Wednesday night to stave off elimination and forced a Game 5 back in Los Angeles. "When you play this game, you have to battle, but then you have to rely on your teammates," Lundqvist said. "Sometimes you have to rely on some luck. Tonight we had it a couple times." Lundqvist finished with 40 saves on 41 shots to extend his streak of home elimination-game wins to eight. Along the way he kept the Kings at bay with the kind of performance that his teammates have come to expect. "It was pretty self-explanatory out there," defenceman Dan Girardi said. "He was the King tonight for us, making huge saves when he had to." The most memorable saves, though, came from Stralman in the first period and Stepan with just over a minute left in the third. Midway through the first period with the Rangers up 1-0 on a deflection goal by Benoit Pouliot, Kings defenceman Alec Martinez thought he had scored. Instead, Stralman batted the puck off the goal-line after first lifting Jeff Carters stick out of the way. "I just saw the puck and all I tried to do basically was get the stick out, and obviously the puck as well," Stralman said. "Its one of those things, you need a little luck to kind of succeed with." Luck, some quick reflexes and enough wherewithal not to knock the puck in while trying to avoid what couldve been a disastrous goal against for the Rangers. "A lot of times you start panicking and you end up whacking it in your own net, and we did a good job of being calm when it was sitting there, and getting it back underneath Hank for a whistle," Rangers defenceman Marc Staal said. "If they get that one, they have that momentum, and we were able to make a stand long enough that they didnt." The one-goal lead that stood up thanks to Stralman became two, New Yorks fifth of that kind in this Cup final, when Martin St. Louis scored 6:27 into the second. A bad bounce in a series full of them for the Rangers led to Kings captain Dustin Brown scoring just two minutes 19 seconds later. The knob of Girardis stick appeared to break, springing Brown for the breakaway goal at 8:46. After the Rangers blew two-goal leads in each of Games 1 and 2, Lundqvist couldnt help but think, "Here we go again." From that point on, the Rangers just tried to hang on. They were outshot 27-6 from the point St. Louis scored to make it 2-0 until the clock hit zeros at the end of the third. "Youre trying to tell your players not to play on their heels, keep managing the puck, lets make plays," relieved coach Alain Vigneault said. "They came at us real hard. Fortunately we were able to stand tall, bend not break. When we did bend a little bit more, our goaltender made some big saves." Then Stepan saved the hockey season with 1:11 left in the third. Again Martinez put the puck on net for a scoring chance that probably should have gone in, and after Tanner Pearson deflected it under Lundqvist it rolled slowly through the crease until it stopped centimetres from the line. It was the snow that stopped the puck there. And while Vigneault joked, "Thank God for soft ice now and then," Lundqvist had an explanation for what felt like a miracle on 33rd Street. "Its probably the product of moving a lot," said Lundqvist, who made 15 third-period saves while New York managed just one shot. "I stay deep in the net, so theres a lot of snow there." Lundqvist was yelling at Wes McCauley to blow his whistle, but the referee whos considered one of, if not the best, in the NHL had perfect positioning and saw the puck the entire time. "Then I realized it was behind me for a couple seconds," Lundqvist said. "I actually apologized. But he was cool about it." Stepan was even cooler under that pressure. Knowing full well he couldnt cover the puck with his hand, lest a penalty shot be awarded, the Rangers centre used his glove to sweep it under Lundqvist just as Stralman did earlier with his stick. "Those are the big plays we need at certain moments to keep the momentum or shift the momentum," Stepan said. "Obviously, I just dont want it to go in the net. I was just trying to do whatever I can to stop it." Stepan used the word of the night to describe that play: lucky. Drew Doughty probably had a different reaction when he looked up to the video screen to see what happened. "There were two like that tonight," Doughty said. "That was the difference in the game." For days the Rangers expressed confidence in their own play at the same time as they lamented not getting breaks in this series. Bounces cost them in overtime in Los Angeles and even in the 3-0 loss in Game 3. This time it was Pearson saying that the Kings were "that close. If we put those in or tap those in, its a whole different hockey game." Instead, it was the Rangers eighth straight victory when facing elimination at home. And it was the kind of win that had Vigneault hoping it was just the start of more. "We got a few bounces," Vigneault said. "You need those. Maybe the luck is changing a little bit." But this wasnt just luck. It was Lundqvist. The 32-year-old entered the night with a 0.98 goals-against average and .967 save percentage in the previous seven elimination possibilities at the Garden. Theres just something about these situations that brings out the best in Lundqvist. "When everything is on the line, you just have to challenge yourself the right way, I guess, as a team and personally," he said. "You have to go out there and leave everything out there and be extremely focused. One mistake and the season is over. Youre definitely aware of that." Lundqvist didnt make mistakes and in the process at least delayed the Kings party until Friday, when Game 5 takes place at Staples Center. Had Los Angeles finished off the sweep, it wouldve marked the second Cup in franchise history on the two-year anniversary of the first. "It is an opportunity lost," Brown said. It was actually an opportunity Lundqvist yearned to take away from the Kings. No team had been swept in the Cup final since the 1998 Washington Capitals, and it wouldve been the first time a visiting team celebrated this championship at the Garden since 1972. "We didnt want to see the Cup coming out on our home ice tonight," Lundqvist said. "Yeah, just the thought of it makes me feel sick." Instead of feeling sick, the Rangers feel alive. Theyre facing the same three games to one series deficit they came back from two rounds ago against the Pittsburgh Penguins and have some life. Thanks to luck -- and Lundqvist. "Hes a great goalie and a big part of our success," St. Louis said. "For us, we believe in him. Hes a big reason why were here." NOTES -- Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick made 17 saves on 19 shots, beaten on a double deflection on Pouliots goal and then a shot from in close on St. Louis. Quick stopped all 32 shots he faced in the Game 3 shutout. ... Brad Richards played just 13:20, including 9:22 at even strength, as he was demoted to the fourth line. ... Dan Carcillo was a healthy scratch for the Rangers despite being eligible to return from a six-game suspension for shoving an official during the Eastern Conference final. ... Kings defenceman Robyn Regehr, who has been out more than five weeks with an undisclosed injury, was scratched again as coach Darryl Sutter went with the same lineup from the first three games of the series. ... New Knicks coach Derek Fisher, who played in Los Angeles with the Lakers, was in attendance, wearing orange and blue. Zapatillas Mujer Baratas .Impact president Joey Saputo confirmed Thursday that he is part of a group of investors whose offer to buy the 105-year-old Italian club was accepted by the teams board of directors. Zapatillas Yeezy España . According the CSNBayArea.com, the 31-year-old suffered an ACL injury in his right knee on Friday when he collided with Anaheims Emerson Etem during a pre-season game. https://www.zapatillasbaratasspain.es/ . Barnard, 28, was 1-0 with a 0.53 ERA in three appearances, including two starts, with San Angel o this season. He struck out 19 batters and walked just one in 17 innings pitched. He has previous American Association experience with the Lincoln Saltdogs, El Paso Diablos and Amarillo Sox.An eventful Game 3 ended with Montreals first victory of the Eastern Conference finals. The Canadiens hope to even the series Sunday when they visit the New York Rangers for Game 4 at Madison Square Garden. Listen to all-day coverage and the game on TSN Radio 690 and TSN.ca/Montreal. TSN.ca will provide live streaming of the fans viewing party at the Bell Centre during the game as well as the post-game news conferences. After losing the first two tests of this best-of-seven series on home ice, the Habs rebounded with Thursdays 3-2 overtime victory in New York City to cut the series deficit to 2-1. Alex Galchenyuk supplied the winner just 72 seconds into the extra session, capping a fierce battle that eventually led to two players being suspended by the league. This playoff battle -- the first between Montreal and New York since 1996 -- seemed to be lacking in bad blood at the start but that has changed over the course of three meetings. It began with the injury in Game 1 to Montreals Carey Price, who was lost for the series after a collision with New Yorks Chris Kreider, and the animosity reached new levels on Thursday. Former Ranger Brandon Prust kicked off the Game 3 hostilities with a late, blind side check on New York forward Derek Stepan just 2:45 into the opening period. No penalty was called for the hit, which resulted in a broken jaw for Stepan, but Prust was hit with a two-game suspension on Friday. Stepan, meanwhile, is out for Game 4 after having surgery Friday to repair his broken jaw. However, Derick Brassard, who sat out Games 2 and 3 with an upper- body injury sustained on a hit from Montreals Mike Weaver in the opener, is ready to return and will replace Stepan in the lineup tonight. The bigger suspension went to New Yorks Daniel Carcillo for abuse of an official. Carcillo was whistled for charging Prust at 5:51 of the first, setting off a fight between New Yorks Derek Dorsett and the former Ranger. While the fight was going on, Carcillo became physical with an official and was hit with a game misconduct. On Friday, the NHL handed down a 10-game suspension to Carcillo, who wont be eligible to return this postseason unless the Rangers stretch the Eastern Conference finals to seven games and then advance to a deciding Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals. Carcillo has appealed the suspension. While the rough stuff grabbed most of the headlines after Game 3, the on-ice battle was memorable as well. Montreal went ahead 2--1 on a goal by Danny Briere with 3:02 left in the third, but Kreider scored with just 28. Zapatillas Baratas Imitacion. 1 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to OT. The Canadiens then wasted no time in overtime, as Tomas Plekanec skated in through the middle and threw the puck on net from the left circle. Henrik Lundqvist made a left-pad save on the shot, but the rebound hit off a crashing Galchenyuk in front of the net and went in to end the game. Lundqvist, who was pulled in favor of the extra attacker on Kreiders game- tying goal, turned away 21 shots on Thursday, but he was outdueled by Canadiens netminder Dustin Tokarski. Making just his second playoff start in place of Price, Tokarski shined in Game 3 as he stopped 35 shots to get his first postseason win. "Hes a battler and the most important thing is hes a winner," said Montreal coach Michel Therrien. "You have to give a lot of credit to the Rangers, they came out strong. We weathered the storm and played with more confidence as the game went on. But without Tokarski, we wouldnt have won that game." Andrei Markov also scored for Montreal, which is hoping to get to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since defeating Los Angeles in 1993. That also marked the last time a club from Canada lifted the Cup. Carl Hagelin joined Kreider as the goal-scorers for the Rangers, who were last in the Cup finals one year after the Canadiens, also taking home the chalice in a seven-game series against Vancouver in 1994. The Rangers hope to put Game 3 behind them on Sunday, as they shoot for a 3-1 lead in the series. New York outshot the Canadiens by a 37-25 margin on Thursday, so there are some positives to draw from the clubs first setback since falling behind three games to one against Pittsburgh in the conference semis. "We played really well, but we just have to forget about it, move on, and get ready for the next one," Lundqvist said. Game 5 is scheduled for Tuesday in Montreal. Depending on the outcome of Sundays clash, the next meeting will either offer a chance for New York to clinch a berth in the Cup Finals or give the Habs an opportunity to take the series lead. This is the first postseason encounter between these Original Six rivals since the opening round of the 1996 playoffs when New York won in six games. The clubs have split 14 previous playoff series, but the Rangers had won six straight postseason games against Montreal before Thursdays loss. ' ' '