Zigeunerzelt » t two weeks ahead of the

The New York Rangers jumped out to a 2-0 lead against the Los Angeles Kings in Game Four of the Stanley Cup Final and, this time, it held up, and the Rangers won 2-1 to avoid a sweep, sending the series back to Los Angeles for Game Five. The story of Game Three, in some respects, was that the Rangers werent getting the breaks, but that tide turned in Game Four, as there were at least a couple of pucks that settled on the goal-line behind Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist, but were scooped away before it could cross. Outshot 41-19, the Rangers got goals from Benoit Pouliot and Martin St. Louis to jump out to the lead. It was Pouliots second point in the past 11 games, but the Rangers need all hands on deck if they are going to somehow climb back into this series. St. Louis leads the Rangers with eight goals this postseason. Kings captain Dustin Brown, who has eight points (4 G, 4 A) in the past eight games, was the lone goal-scorer for Los Angeles. He took advantage of Rangers D Dan Girardis broken stick to skate in a breakaway and beat Lundqvist with a forehand deke. Once St. Louis scored, with 13:33 left in the second period, the Rangers registered six shots on goal (four at even-strength) over the rest of the game, including one in the third period -- an 83-foot snap shot by D Ryan McDonagh -- while the Kings launched 26 shots on Lundqvist. This kind of defensive (or at least non-offensive) shell leads to a team surrendering two-goal leads, only it didnt happen this time. After stopping 40 of 41 shots, many of which were high-quality scoring chances, Lundqvist now has a .926 save percentage in the postseason. In the past three years, Lundqvist has a .930 save percentage in the playoffs, ranking third among goaltenders to play at least 20 games. Coming into the series, the Ranges had to hope that Lundqvist was going to provide a goaltending advantage over Jonathan Quick and that hadnt been the case through three games, so getting a big performance from Lundqvist was a start Kings rookie LW Tanner Pearson registered a game-high eight shots on goal, having never recorded more than four in an NHL game. Pearson also had the best possession numbers in Game Four, with 19 shot attempts for and six against during 5-on-5 play. The Rangers defence pairing of Marc Staal and Anton Stralman took their lumps in the possession game, both on for less than 32% of the 5-on-5 shot atempts when they were on the ice. Rangers C Dominic Moore played 17:47, a total hes surpassed once in the postseason and that was Game Two of this series, a game that went into double overtime. Aside from little-used Derek Dorsett, Moore -- playing primarily with Chris Kreider and Martin St. Louis -- had the best possession numbers among Rangers forwards in Game Four. Hockey can be a funny game. There have been other games in this series in which the Rangers controlled play and might have been more deserving of a win, but they emerged with the win in Game Four, a game in which they were thoroughly outplayed. This time, they got a few breaks, their goalending came up big and the Blueshirts live to play another game. Its still a long road to climb to overcome a series deficit that now sits at 3-1, with Game Five Friday in Los Angeles. But, pull off an upset in L.A. Friday and maybe this starts to get interesting. For the Kings, they missed out on their chance to record the first Final sweep since 1998, but they are still in great shape. They hold a 3-1 lead in the series and are going home for Game Five. Teams that hold a 3-1 lead in the NHL Final with Game Five at home have historically won 61.9% of Game Fives (so the Rangers have a chance), but those teams have also won all 21 series under those circumstances, which offers less hope for the Rangers. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Nike Shox Cheap Nz Wholesale . LOUIS - Two-thirds of the St. Cheap Nike Shox Wholesale . The freestyle skier from Calgary finished sixth in the qualification round with a total of 82.00 points. Groenewoud won a silver medal at the X Games last month, just over five weeks after undergoing double knee surgery. http://www.nikeshoxcheapnz.com/ . As if he had been rehearsing it, Vasquez looked around with a grimacing stare as he clinched two fists and flexed his muscles. What do you think of DeMar DeRozans face after he hits a big shot, he was asked moments earlier. Nike Shox Cheap Nz . -- Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf has been suspended two games for his hit from behind on Kevan Miller of the Bruins. Clearance Nike Shox . The top-ranked Spaniard won his fourth Madrid Open on Sunday after Kei Nishikori was forced to withdraw with a hip injury when trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the final. And Nadal, who is coming off to uncharacteristic quarterfinal losses on clay, said his mental strength is still lacking just two weeks ahead of the French Open.Its one of my biggest pet peeves in football and it happens all over the world and it happens often. Moreover, it makes the game a little less beautiful. I call it the "deliberate handball swindle." A player, believing hes been fouled, grabs the ball while falling to the ground, forcing the referee into making a decision in the players favour. As a long suffering observer of CONCACAF, Ill cynically assume that this technique originated in Central America and spread like a disease to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, FIFA has allowed the plague to fester...until recently it seems. More and more, we are seeing officials make the correct decision, by giving a free kick in the other direction, while brandishing the yellow card that is automatically awarded for intentionally handling the ball. Unfortunately for Whitecaps fans, it was a Vancouver player that fell victim to that modern interpretation and, because Mattias Laba was already in the book, it was an indisputable sending off in the Whitecaps 2-1 loss to Colorado Rapids on Saturday. Was Laba pulled back by Nick Labrocca in the 77th minute and might a foul have been awarded? Yes. But there were a full two steamboats between Laba tumbling to the ground and the Argentine midfielder grabbing the ball. Enough time for the referee to blow his whistle, which he didnt, and enough time for Laba to consider the circumstances - already on a yellow witth his team leading by a goal.dddddddddddd Perhaps in his home country, in front of a huge crowd, a referee might have caved to the con and we see that all the time. I sympathize with officials who are constantly being put in a position of having to interpret deceit. So for the good of the game, Im glad Ionnis Stavridis construed the law the way he did and I hope his contemporaries in the game consistently follow suit and react the same way in similar circumstances. There is part of me, though, that also wonders whether in this instance, if the referee knew right away that Laba was already on a yellow for a belligerent foul just 23 minutes earlier ,as there seemed to be hesitation between him showing the secnd yellow and then the red. If referees themselves strive for anonymity and the desire to let players decide games, then, upon reflection, perhaps Mr. Stavridis might have secretly wished he had just awarded a foul to Nick Labrocca and not influenced the game to that degree. But it doesnt change the fundamental issue - grabbing the ball to force a referee into a ruling falls under the same category as diving or, as its now known, “simulation." Its cheating plain and simple and if the Whitecaps truly want to live by their slogan “Our All, Our Honour”, maybe they need to learn from this incident and encourage players to think twice about employing one of the games most notorious swindles. Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Discount Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping Cheapest College Jerseys Sale Cheap Football Jerseys China Nike NFL Jerseys Canada Wholesale NHL Jerseys From China MLB Jerseys Outlet Canada Wholesale NBA Jerseys Canada Store Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Canada ' ' '