20/1 with Sky Bet)Follow Benfica v Bayern Munich with out live blog on skysp

NEW YORK -- Even the King at his best needed some help to keep the Kings from lifting the Stanley Cup at Madison Square Garden. Best Fake Air Max 97 . 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. Air Max 97 Clearance Cheap .Dawson also birdied two of the last four holes to reach 12-under 132 on TPC San Antonios AT&T Canyons Course. He won his only title in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event in 2002 in the Web.com Tours LaSalle Bank Open.Im not going to lose any sleep, believe me, Dawson said. I used to be a perfectionist, but my attitude now is to play like Im in the pro-am. Nike Air Max Plus Tn Ultra Customize . They never thought it would take some blood, too. Kevin Love grabbed his 4,000th career rebound as part of a 19-point, 13-board effort to lead the Timberwolves over the Utah Jazz 112-97 on Tuesday night. http://www.wholesalenikeshoesclearance.com/cheap-max-95-shoes.html . - The Minnesota Vikings have ruled Christian Ponder out for Sundays game at Baltimore, because the quarterback has not yet passed all of his post-concussion tests.Bayern Munich will look to continue their impressive form to reach a fifth straight Champions League semi-final when they face Benfica on Wednesday night. The German giants head into the second leg in Portugal with a slender 1-0 lead after Arturo Vidals early goal in the first leg last week.Benfica are looking to reach the final four of Europes premier competition for the first time since 1990 but face a tough task against Pep Guardiolas side after falling to defeat at the Allianz Arena. Bayern Munich are still on for the treble this season, and sit seven points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with just one competitive defeat in 2016.Benfica will certainly provide tough opposition though, and have won every league game bar one since December 15.Team newsBenfica could be without two of their star men for Wednesday nights clash with Jonas missing through suspension and Nicolas Gaitan nursing an injury. Benficas star man Nicolas Gaitan (right) is an injury doubt Julio Cesar and Nuno Santos are also out for the Portuguese giants, while Bayern are likely to be without Holger Badstuber, Jerome Boateng and Arjen Robben after the trio missed training on Tuesday.Medhi Benatia and Kingsley Coman did train though, and could play a part in Lisbon.Opta statsThe odds are firmly in Bayerns favour with the statistic that 68% of teams who won 1-0 at home in the first leg of a Champions League game have gone on to progress to the next round (19 out of 28).Bayern have also had the better of Benfica in previous meetings, knocking them out in each of their three previous home/away encounters in European competition (1975/76 European Cup, 1981/82 European Cup, 1995/96 UEFA Cup). Benficas Brazilian forward Jonas (centre) is suspended Bayern also went on to reach the final of the competition in each of those three encounters; something worth noting if they do head through on Wednesday night. Air Max 97 Wholesale China. Benfica have scored in all four of their home Champions League games this season, though, so expect goals from both sides in Lisbon.Bayern Munich are also winless in their last six away games in the Champions League knockout stages (D3 L3).BettingBenfica are up against odds of 8/1 to make the Champions League semi-finals despite having home advantage to overturn a single-goal deficit, with Bayern Munich just 8/13 to win on the night.Sky Bet find it difficult to see Pep Guardiolas men not scoring a potentially decisive away goal, with the hosts 9/2 for a clean sheet and Robert Lewandowski just 5/6 to score in 90 minutes. The Poland star heads the first goalscorer betting at 3/1 followed by Thomas Muller (4/1), while Kostas Mitroglou is rated the hosts main threat at 13/2 to break the deadlock.Bayern are currently second in Sky Bets Champions League outright at 2/1 with Barcelona 11/8 favourites, while Benfica are handed the longest odds of the final eight at 80/1 Pep Guardiola (right) is hoping to guide Bayern to their fifth straight Champions League semi-final Charlie Nicholas predictionIt was a very creditable result for Benfica in the first leg but I actually see this one suiting Bayern more and I think theyll just pick off their hosts as they chase what would be a sensational win.Benfica dont have the discipline and the crowd will be urging them to push forward, leaving room to Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski to exploit the space in behind.Charlie predicts: 0-2 and Lewandowski to score first (20/1 with Sky Bet)Follow Benfica v Bayern Munich with out live blog on skysports.com and the Sky Sports apps. ' ' '