The Giants went 3 for 4 on the powe

[ldh2013]

The New York Rangers stayed alive in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final thanks to a brilliant performance from Henrik Lundqvist. . However, the Los Angeles Kings will get another shot at winning their second championship in three years when the clubs meet tonight at Staples Center. You can listen to the game on TSN Radio at 8pm et/5pm pt and watch the post-game news conferences on TSN.ca and TSN GO. The Rangers lost the first three tests of this best-of-seven set, but finally broke through with a 2-1 victory Wednesday in New York. Lundqvist was the clear star for the Blueshirts, stopping 40 shots, including all 15 in a frantic third period to keep Los Angeles from mounting another comeback win in this series. Martin St. Louis netted the deciding goal early in the second to help the Rangers push the series to tonights Game 5 battle in the City of Angels. Faced with the prospect of being the first team to be swept out of the Stanley Cup Finals since Detroit beat the Washington Capitals in 1998, Lundqvist and his club improved to 11-2 in their last 13 elimination games and 5-0 during these playoffs. "We didnt want that Cup out on our home ice. The thought of it makes me sick," Lundqvist admitted. "Its about competing, you have to be extremely focused, one mistake and the seasons over. Exciting. Tough, but fun." The 32-year-old Swedish starter now owns an 8-0 record, 0.99 GAA, a .968 save percentage and two shutouts in his last eight games when facing elimination at home. Benoit Pouliot recorded a first-period tally for the Rangers, who hung on despite posting only one shot in the games final 20 minutes. Pouliots goal ended Kings goaltender Jonathan Quicks shutout streak at 123 minutes, 1 second. Dustin Brown scored and Quick made 17 saves for the Kings, who have a chance to celebrate winning their second Cup on home ice since 2012. L.A. beat New Jersey in six games for the crown in 2012. The Kings also opened a 3-0 lead in that series, but lost two straight before lifting the Cup at the Staples Center in Game 6. "It doesnt mean a whole lot. We wanted to close it out tonight, and we didnt do it," said Kings forward Anze Kopitar of being unable to sweep the Rangers. "But now were going home, and were going to try to close it there." In addition to a superb performance from their star goaltender, the Rangers also received the benefit of some "puck luck" in posting the franchises first Cup Finals victory on home ice since the clinching Game 7 of the 1994 Finals against Vancouver. Their second one led to the game winner. During an odd-man rush, Derek Stepan attempted a dish to Chris Kreider in the slot, but his stick shattered and the puck slid off a Kings defender before snaking under a needlessly-sliding Quick. St. Louis wisely stayed in position on the left wing and tapped the puck in from the near-side post at the 6:27 mark of the second period to give the hosts a 2-0 advantage. Brown halved the Kings deficit with 8:46 played on a breakaway, moving past Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi -- whose stick shattered at the right point -- and beating Lundqvist after several dekes from atop the crease. The score came two seconds after a Tyler Toffoli slashing minor expired. Los Angeles offense seemed to kick into another gear at that point, but Lundqvist stayed calm under the onslaught to prevent the Kings from claiming another win after falling behind 2-0 in a game. The Rangers blew two-goal leads en route to losing both Games 1 and 2 at L.A. beyond regulation, but were able to survive Game 4 with the win. On two occasions in Wednesdays game, the puck sat on the goal line behind Lundqvist and went no further thanks to a little help from his teammates. Midway through the first period, Jeff Carter had a prime chance to knot the score at 1-1 when a puck trickled between Lundqvists pads and headed for goal. Carter, however, failed to connect on his first chance and Rangers defenseman Anton Stralman was able to clear the disc out of harms way before the Kings forward could get a second crack at it. With time winding down in the third period, the situation repeated itself. Only this time, a bit of snow on the ice and the glove hand of New Yorks Derek Stepan saved the day. The puck found its way between Lundqvists pads again and slowed down just before the goal line when Stepan swept it out of danger with his fingertips. "Its not easy. The stress level is a little high obviously when the puck is laying there on the goal line," said St. Louis. "We had a little puck luck tonight. And you take those." The Rangers have won an NHL record eight straight home playoff games when their season was on the line, since Game 4 of the 2008 Eastern Conference semifinals vs. Pittsburgh. Detroit (1949-55) and the Montreal Canadiens (1934-40) previously shared the top spot with seven in a row. New York will need to extend that NHL record to win this series, but first it has to survive tonights elimination game on the road. Only four teams in NHL history have come back from down 3-0 to win a best-of- seven set, and only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs pulled it off in the Stanley Cup Finals when they beat Detroit. The Kings, of course, became the fourth NHL team to come back from down 3-0 when they rallied to beat San Jose in the first round of this postseason. If the Rangers can stave off elimination again, the clubs will meet Monday in New York for Game 6. . Kelly saw time primarily as a first baseman, third baseman and outfielder last season for the Detroit Tigers, batting . . The move came just before the series finale against Houston, when newly acquired right-hander Hector Noesi was added to the Rangers roster. Beltre hasnt played since coming out of Tuesdays game at Boston. . -- Justin Verlander watched helplessly as his first pitch went sailing toward the outfield wall.VANCOUVER -- Cain Franson had two goals and two assists and Joel Hamilton scored once and set up three more as the Vancouver Giants crushed the visiting Kamloops Blazers 7-2 on Sunday in Western Hockey League action. Jackson Houck added a goal and two assists for the Giants (28-23-10), who halted a five-game slide, while Tyler Morrison, Mason Geertsen and Dominik Volek each scored once. Matt Bellerive scored both goals for the Blazers (12-43-5), who are 1-9-0 in their last 10 outings. Vancouvers Jared Rathjen made 19 saves for the win as Cole Kehler turned aside 44-of-51 shots for Kamloops. The Giants went 3 for 4 on the power play while the Blazers failed to score on three chances with the man advantage. --- COUGARS 6 THUNDERBIRDS 4 KENT, Wash. -- Ty Edmonds stopped 39-of-40 shots in relief as Prince George used a four-goal second period to come from behind and defeat Seattle. Zach Pochiro scored twice for the Cougars (25-29-8), who trailed 3-0 less than seven minutes into the game, and Troy Bourke had a goal and two assists. Klarc Wilson, Todd Fiddler and Jansen Harkins eeach had a goal and an assist to round out Prince Georges offence. . Jaimen Yakubowski had a pair of goals for the Thunderbirds (37-18-5) while Alexander Delnov and Calvin Spencer added single goals. Prince Georges Adam Beukeboom gave up three goals on nine shots in 6:48 of action, before giving way to Edmonds. Seattles Danny Mumaugh allowed four goals on 22 shots and was replaced by Taran Kozun. Kozun picked up the loss, stopping 4-of-6 shots in 31 minutes of ice time. --- CHIEFS 5 SILVERTIPS 2 SPOKANE, Wash. -- Eric Williams made 35 saves and Mitch Holmberg had two goals and an assist as the Chiefs downed Everett. Mike Aviani scored once and set up two others for Spokane (34-20-5), Marcus Messier and Dominic Zwerger each scored once and Adam Helewka tacked on three assists. Brayden Low and Joshua Winquist scored for the Silvertips (28-23-8) and 15-year-old Carter Hart stopped 20 shots in his WHL debut. Holmbergs performance moves him into a tie for the WHL scoring race with Nicolas Petan of the Portland Winterhawks. Both players have 100 points. ' ' '