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. Roberto Perez Jersey . -- Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu will be the Dodgers starting pitchers in their two-game season-opening series in Australia against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ricky Vaughn Jersey . An unconventional night for Texas-El Paso nearly led to the Miners getting a huge upset. Down by 14 with 2:21 left, the Miners went on a frantic closing spurt that fell just short, and UTEP was beaten by No. http://www.indianssale.com/indians-tyler-clippard-jersey/ . -- Justin Verlander took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and won his fourth straight decision, leading Detroit over the Kansas City Royals 9-4 Sunday and extending the Tigers winning streak to a season-high five games. Joe Carter Indians Jersey . In the days leading up to the draft, TSN.ca and TSN Radio basketball analyst Duane Watson looks at some of the names that will be headlining the event. Tonight, Michigans Nik Stauskas of Mississauga, Ontario. Danny Salazar Indians Jersey . As if the individual strands of grey hair or the increasing amount of joint pain werent reminders enough, the impending end of Jeters career is a slap-in-the-face indicator of a generations fleeting youth.NEW YORK -- While growing up in New Rochelle, N.Y., Kevin Shattenkirk watched Rangers defenceman Brian Leetch score many big goals. Given a chance to do the same at Madison Square Garden, the St. Louis Blues blue-liner made the most of his opportunity. Shattenkirk fired in the tiebreaking power-play goal early in the third period, and the Blues got the best of New York again in a 2-1 victory Thursday night. "There were a lot of emotions going through my body, but after the first couple of shifts it just felt like a hockey game again," Shattenkirk said. "Once the goal happened, even more of a relief. I was happy and you could hear some people cheering." Shattenkirk had his own rooting section. He secured 20 tickets himself, but estimated that 60 or 70 people he knows got tickets on their own to watch him play. He could hear them when he one-timed a pass from Alex Pietrangelo through a screen and past goalie Henrik Lundqvist -- a la Leetch -- at 3:09 for his eighth goal of the season. "There are a lot of things that I watched in him growing up, and he was a very special player. I try to emulate him as best as I can," Shattenkirk said. "Those were areas that he always shined in." Alexander Steen also had a goal for the Blues before leaving late in the second period with a lower-body injury. David Backes had two assists, and Jaroslav Halak made 34 saves in beating Lundqvist in a matchup of Olympic goalies. New Yorks Rick Nash scored his sixth goal in four games -- netting at least one in each -- but Shattenkirk took advantage of Nashs slashing penalty, scoring 9 seconds into the power play. Lundqvist made 23 saves in his return from a one-game absence caused by the flu. He allowed fewer than three goals for the seventh straight game, but still couldnt find a way to stop the Blues -- the only NHL team he has never beaten (0-4). "I was moving the way I wanted to," Lundqvist said. "I am happy with the way I played, but its still very disappointing to not come out of here with at least one point." St. Louis, which killed all three Rangers power plays, swept the two-game season series and has won seven of the past eight meetings. The Blues, beaten 7-1 at New Jersey on Tuesday, have earrned points in eight straight visits to Madison Square Garden.dddddddddddd This was their first since Nov. 7, 2010. "Its shameful that we havent been here more often," Backes said. "You see the crowd, youre in the city for a day or two, you feel that hype, and you know what playing the New York Rangers brings. I think it brought the best out of us." The Rangers got even late in the second on Nashs team-leading 17th goal. Derek Stepan sent a pass from behind the net to Nash, who stepped into a slap shot from the dot in the left circle and ripped a drive past Halak with 1:43 left. New York pressured the Blues for the remainder of the period and drew its second power play in the closing seconds. "We had a couple good looks," Rangers captain Ryan Callahan said, "a couple Grade-A chances there right in front. We just didnt get one past them there." The Rangers outshot the Blues 28-18 through 40 minutes. "Theyre a team that if we wouldve taken off the gas for 60 seconds, it couldve been 3-2 the other way in a heartbeat," Backes said. Steen gave the Blues a 1-0 lead with his 26th goal. A pass from Jaden Schwartz hit Steens right skate in front of the crease, caromed off Lundqvists stick and skate and trickled in at 8:38. The goal was briefly reviewed by video replay, and it was determined that the puck wasnt kicked into the net. It was the fifth straight goal allowed by the Rangers since they had a 3-1 lead over the Islanders in the second period on Tuesday in a 5-3 loss. A late power-play goal was the winner in that one, too. Steen struggled to get to the bench after going hard into the boards in the second, but he was back soon after on the power play. He skated off for good with 2:57 left in the period. Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said Steen is day to day. NOTES: Nash has 21 goals and 40 points in 50 games versus the Blues. ... Steen has 14 career points against the Rangers and 12 in the past seven games -- including six goals. ... Schwartz played in his 100th NHL game. ... Blues C Maxim Lapierre was activated from the injured list after missing five games due to a lower body injury. ... Newly acquired D Kevin Klein made his Rangers debut. ... St. Louis C Derek Roy was a healthy scratch. ' ' '