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. Cheap USWNT Jerseys . -- During Kansas shootaround on Wednesday before the Jayhawks faced Oklahoma, coach Bill Self told Wayne Selden Jr. USWNT Jerseys 2021 .Chanathip Songkrasin opened the scoring in the sixth minute before Kroekrit found the target twice in the 57th and four minutes from fulltime.Vietnam and Malaysia play their second leg on Thursday. Vietnam won the first leg 2-1. https://www.cheapuswnt.com/ .Y. -- As if the worst start in franchise history isnt bad enough, Buffalo Sabres President Ted Black braced his teams win-starved fans for potentially more tough times. USWNT Gear . Alfredo Simon lowered his ERA to 0.86, and the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1 Friday for their 16th win in their last 17 games at the Friendly Confines. Stitched USWNT Jerseys . - Doug Kalitta led Top Fuel qualifying Friday in the NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway with a 3.DOVER, Del. - Jeff Gordon doused Team Penskes hot streak with a champagne bath in Victory Lane.Sticky and sweet, Gordon had secured an emphatic automatic spot in the next round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.But Gordons entry in the field of 12 was all but guaranteed even before he dominated the closing laps Sunday at Dover International Speedway. What wasnt so sure was that Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne was coming along for the ride.Kahne survived a bumpy 400 miles, falling four laps back before rallying for a 20th-place finish to nab the 12th and final spot in the field.Kasey made it a pretty long day, owner Rick Hendrick said. We were watching the monitor at the end of the race hoping that we didnt have a caution and Jeff could win it and Kasey could get in. I didnt know exactly how close it was going to be until I watched that monitor.NASCAR tried to inject its 10-race Chase format with a revamped formula for crowning a champion this season. Under NASCARs elimination format, four drivers will be knocked out after every third race. Dover marked the third race.That meant plenty of nerves all around the track — and tons of scoreboard watching.Kurt Busch, AJ Allmendinger, Greg Biffle and Aric Almirola were eliminated from championship contention. Four more drivers will drop out following the next three-race segment that starts next week at Kansas Speedway.Gordon joined Chase winners Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano as the three drivers who were guaranteed a berth in the next Chase round with victories.I think it makes a statement of what type of team we are, Gordon said after his fourth win of the season and 92nd overall. I think that it makes a statement that were a team to beat for this championship.Kevin Harvick also advanced, along with the Hendrick duo of Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin.Hamlin was the lone driver of the bottom four entering Dover to race his way into the top 12. The points will reset for the Kansas, Charlotte and Talladega bracket.The tracks just keep getting better for us as the Chase goes on, Hamlin said. This is going to be a great comeback story.Gordon won for the fifth time at Dover and first since 2001, when he won the last of his four Cup championships.ddddddddddddIm excited about our chances, not just these next three, but all the way to Homestead, Gordon said.With crew chief Kenny Francis steadying the course after rough pit stops on the No. 5, Kahne survived a scramble that saw him nudge out Allmendinger for the final spot. Allmendinger fell two points shy of the cutoff. Busch was six off, Biffle seven and Almirola 18.I never really got nervous at all and I just raced real hard the whole time, Kahne said. Kenny started telling me we were tied for 12th and this was with 30 to go. Then he would tell me we were one point in and then maybe two points in, and then he wasnt positive. Then I started getting a little bit worried, so it was intense inside the car.Team Penske was rolling, winning four of the last five races dating to Bristol, including the first two Chase races. Keselowski was second at Dover to continue his strong Chase effort through three races.Johnson, Logano and Kenseth completed the top five at Dover. Chase drivers took 10 of 13 spots. Kyle Larson was sixth for the best finish among non-Chase drivers. Tony Stewart was 14th in his first race since a grand jury decided he would not be charged in Kevin Ward Jr.s death.Harvick appeared to have the car to beat and led a whopping 223 laps from his seventh pole of the season until he suffered tire woes and finished 13th.We can beat every car on the race track. We just need some good luck, Harvick said. If we get some luck, well win races and have a shot at the championship.Kurt Busch, the 2004 Cup champion, failed to advance in his milestone 500th career start.If youre off, its hard to put the car up on your back and run it, Busch said.Gordon had the top car down the stretch and led the last 71 laps to lead a banner day for Hendrick. At 43, Gordon entered the season answering questions about retirement. After wins at Kansas, Indianapolis, Michigan and Dover for his first four-win season since he had six in 2007, Gordon is answering questions about championships and hitting the 100-victory mark.I dont think were going to get to 100 this year, Gordon said, but I hope we get past 93. That would be pretty awesome to get a couple more.Just enough to guarantee him a spot in the winner-takes-all championship race. ' ' '