NEW YORK -- Even the King at his best needed some help to keep the Kings from lifting the Stanley Cup at Madison Square Garden. Wholesale Authentic Jerseys . 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. Cheap Jerseys From China . Eller scored the midway through the third period after Dallas scored twice to tie it, leading Canadiens to a 6-4 win over the Stars on Thursday night. Fake China Jerseys . The fourth-year guard from Carleton University kicked off his varsity career with rookie of the year honours in 2011, before racking up three straight Mike Moser Memorial Trophies for outstanding player. http://www.jerseyscheapcustom.com/ . Casey Janssen was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday due to a strain in his left abdominal area and lower back.DALLAS - Irate after another botched defensive assignment and an easy lay-in for the Mavericks, Dwane Casey called a timeout less than two minutes into the second quarter. At the time Dallas held a 15-point advantage, they would lead by as many as 19 early in the frame. So what was said in that timeout? "This is a PG-rated show, so I cant really say it," Casey joked after the game. Whatever it was, it worked. Casey challenged their pride. So too did the Mavericks, who had knocked them down, both literally and figuratively. As three Raptor players went to the ground, scrambling for the rebound as time expired in overtime - following a missed floater from Monta Ellis - it became clear, they had taken the challenge personally, and prevailed. "We were sleepwalking, kind of emotionally [hung over] from our close loss the other night I thought, maybe feeling sorry for ourselves," Casey said after his teams 109-108 victory, two days following a heartbreaking OT defeat to Charlotte at home. "I had to get their attention." "Guys responded. They came out swinging. We were down 19, they hit us with a haymaker and Im proud of the way our guys fought back. Thats what the NBA is all about." The Raptors gave the home team a 16-minute head start before closing out the first half on a 27-11 run. Once they showed up, tightened some screws on defence and matched Dallas physicality, they showed a lot of character. "We just held ourselves accountable," said Amir Johnson, who blanketed Dirk Nowitzki on the final play of regulation and contested Ellis runner as time expired in OT. "We took it as a team, like look, were not going to win this game if we dont get defensive stops." Looking at the box score it seems strange to say the Raptors won this game on the defensive end. The Mavs shot 51 per cent from the floor, 10-of-21 from three-point range, outscored Toronto 60-40 in the paint and recorded 31 assists on 26 field goals. But the Raptors defence was timely. They got big stops when they needed them the most, working hard for each one. It was a gritty effort on an unforgiving stage -- the Mavs had the second best home record in the West at 11-2. It was also another page in the book of DeMar DeRozans continued evolution into star-player status. Evident early on, DeRozan was going to have a tough time getting his shot to fall against this Mavericks defence. Withoout Rudy Gay around to attract attention, opponents have been zeroing in on the Raptors guard and the Mavs - using elite, veteran defender Shawn Marion, among others - were no different. Custom Jerseys China. Instead, DeRozan embraced the attention, matching a career-high with nine assists. Most importantly, he came through when it mattered most. DeRozan was 3-for-14 before hitting the game-tying jumper at the end of regulation and going 2-of-3 in OT. "I understand a lot of teams, mostly all the teams, are going to key into me so I used that to my advantage and just tried to get my teammates going," said DeRozan, who finished with 15 points. "They help me get easy baskets once they knock down shots and put me in the best situation at the end of games to get a bucket when we need one." Kyle Lowry led the team with 20 points, also adding six assists while Jonas Valanciunas bounced back from a tough outing in the loss to Charlotte with a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds. Defensively, the heroes were Johnson and newcomer John Salmons, who were assigned to the red-hot Nowitzki and Ellis down the stretch. With Johnson draped all over him, Nowitzki missed a 13-foot step back jumper - a shot he might as well have patented - at the end of the fourth quarter. When Ellis caught the ball with 10 seconds remaining in OT, the plan for Caseys club was to commit the foul they still had left to give. As the Mavs guard put the ball on the floor, Johnson - who switched onto Ellis - opted to play it out. "I just took it in my own hands to just try to play him straight up, man-to-man," Johnson said. "It was a great decision I guess because he missed the shot." Jose Calderon led the Mavs in scoring with 23 points, adding nine assists with just one turnover against his former team. Calderon shot 7-for-10 from three-point range, where hes shooting a career-high 47 per cent this season, his first in Dallas. The 32-year-old point guard greeted his old teammates and coaches with hugs following the Mavs shoot around Friday morning but was all business once the ball was tossed up. "Thats just Jose, man," said DeRozan, who played with Calderon for four-plus seasons in Toronto. "It seems like every time the ball leaves his hand its going in. Hes, in my opinion, one of the best shooters in the league, without a doubt. So its not surprising to me." ' ' '