NEW YORK -- Even the King at his best needed some help to keep the Kings from lifting the Stanley Cup at Madison Square Garden. 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. Discount Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys .com) - American Madison Keys grabbed a first- round victory on Sunday in a rainy start to the Apia International Sydney tournament. Cheap Philadelphia Eagles Gear . The right-hander said he threw about 30 pitches in a routine bullpen session Sunday at Yankee Stadium, his final hurdle before starting Tuesday night at Tampa Bay. http://www.cheapeagles.com/ . So much so that even a simple foul pop up to the first baseman turned into a run. Houstons four-run rally in the ninth inning to beat the Seattle Mariners 6-4 on Monday night was capped by a bizarre play that started as Crowe fouled out to first baseman Justin Smoak with runners on second and third. Cheap Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys Online . At quarterback, all agree that Andy Dalton has been a wonderful surprise, but to truly progress he has to play his best in the playoffs. The two losses in the wildcard rounds keep the evaluation on Dalton open -- just like it did for Peyton Manning many years ago and Matt Ryan until last year. Wholesale Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys . Bayern led second-place Leverkusen by 10 points with a game in hand, while Dortmund was another four points off the pace. Freiburg midfielder Felix Klaus scored in the last minute as his side twice came from behind to climb provisionally out of the relegation zone.ANGELHOLM, SWEDEN – Team Canada head coach Brent Sutter blasted his players following an uninspired 3-0 loss to Sweden in an exhibition game Sunday night. "Theyre a team that plays hard, they skate, they play with emotion and skill and we had guys who didnt tonight and it just shows that skills overrated unless you have a work ethic and a compete level that you have to have out there. We lost a lot of one-on-one battles. Outside of one guy, we lost a lot of face-offs ... We didnt have the puck, especially in the first period. We were just very passive and on our heels and basically we let them dictate the game and they did and we never seemed to get any momentum or control of it back," said Sutter. "I think its a good lesson for us." Bob McKenzie takes a closer look at why Canada struggled against Sweden. It was an assessment shared by his players. "Theyre a big challenge, obviously, they showed it tonight," said defenceman Derrick Pouliot, "luckily for us its still exhibition [season] so we got some time to improve and well see them down the road for sure." Canada will need to play a lot better if theyre going to beat the Swedes in the tournament, which starts on Boxing Day. The host nation is returning half of their players from last years silver-medal squad and Carolinas Elias Lindholm and Nashvilles Filip Forsberg, who were not in the lineup Sunday, will be on the ice by the time the round robin begins. Canada and Sweden are in different pools in the opening round and can only meet in the playoffs. "We didnt work, starting from myself," said left winger Jonathan Drouin, who sat out the first pre-tournament game on Friday. "I think the key guys have to produce offence and we didnt. We have to work harder against a skilled team like that." "Its not a lot of things that really went wrong," said defenceman Aaron Ekblad. "We just have to work harder as a team. That team outworked us and thats about all you can say about it." DROUIN RUSTY IN RETURN Drouin will be a key factor in whether Canada ends a four-year gold drought. Sunday marked the 18-year-olds first game since sustaining a concussion on Dec. 6 while playing with the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL. Head injuries can be tough to come back from at first and rust was evident. "I thought he was average at best," Sutter stated bluntly. "He didnt play very good at all, but its his first game. It was a feel-out process for him tonight. I guess Im not surprised the way it was. He hasnt played in a while and obviously were playing a top, top team." "Obviously, a little slow start," Drouin acknowledged. "Its been three weeks so first game is going to be a little harder. It was getting better and better as the game went on."t; Canada wraps-up its pre-tournament schedule with a game against Switzerland on Monday.dddddddddddd Drouin believes that one more game should be enough for him to be ready for the tournament opener on Thursday against Germany. "Im sure Ill be fine, like I said, it just took some time and as the game went on I felt better and better," said Drouin, who was picked third overall in last Junes NHL draft by Tampa Bay. "Theres one more game and Im sure Ill be better." DUMBA EJECTED; SUSPENSION LOOMING? A lack of discipline also haunted Canada on Sunday as defenceman Mathew Dumba, named an alternate captain by Sutter on Thursday, was ejected in the second period for kneeing Erik Karlsson. The Swedes scored with one second left in the major penalty. Two of Swedens three goals came on the man advantage. Its possible that Dumba, loaned to Hockey Canada by the Minnesota Wild for the world juniors, may face a suspension for the hit. Canadian defenceman Griffin Reinhart will already miss the first three games of the tournament as he serves out a suspension picked up at last years event. And Sutter made it perfectly clear that going into the championships first game with fewer than six blueliners is not acceptable. "No, its not OK to go into the tournament with five D," he said. "I think youre grasping right now, reaching, thinking its a possible suspension. I couldnt even answer that. He got ejected from the game, but whether theres a suspension label to it? I couldnt tell you." Dumba was cut by Team Canada the last two years and has spoken about how much it means to him to be on the squad this time around. Bob McKenzie breaks down the Dumba situation and how a suspension would put Sutter in a tricky situation LONE BRIGHT SPOT The one player that escaped Sutters wrath was Jake Paterson. The Saginaw goalie kept the game scoreless in the first period as Canada was outshot 16-5. Jamie McLennan takes a closer look at Patersons performance "He played great," said Sutter. "He played outstanding. From the first shot that was taken on him, he was really, really solid for us. He kept it close for us, especially in the first period, but we never responded in the way we wanted to and you have to score goals to win games. We just never generated enough offensively. He gave us chance and I thought he played extremely well." Paterson is competing with Zach Fucale for the starting job. Fucale stopped 31 of 33 shots in Fridays 4-2 win against Finland. "Obviously Im looking, hopefully, to be the starter, but I have no idea what the coaches are thinking right now so I just got to be ready if they call upon me," said Paterson, who stopped 31 of 34 shots against Sweden. Sutter hasnt announced who will start on Monday against the Swiss. 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