Defenseman Anton Stralman (6) helped keep the Rangers breathing for another game when he cleared the puck from the goal line. Credit Pool photo by Bruce Bennet
The Rangers needed a supernatural force field over their goal line Wednesday night to keep from being unceremoniously swept out of the Stanley Cup finals by the Los Angeles Kings. While that made for a thrilling moment for the Madison Square Garden faithful, it came with the knowledge that the Rangers might need similar otherworldly happenings to intervene in three more games.
Of all the wild twists that turned Game 4 into the hockey equivalent of a Tilt-a-Whirl, the puck stalling in a stubborn snow pile behind goalie Henrik Lundqvist with 1 minute 11 seconds remaining and the Rangers clinging to a 2-1 lead was the craziest. But it also highlighted just how high a mountain the Rangers must scale if they hope to win more than just this one face-saving victory.
It was not even the only Kings shot that sputtered to a halt short of the goal. Another one, in the first period, was saved in superhuman style by Rangers defenseman Anton Stralman, who not only swept the puck underneath Lundqvist but also kept Kings center Jeff Carter’s stick aloft so that he could do it. Center Derek Stepan’s desperate glove sweep toward the end of the game was more suspenseful only because of the timing.
The Kings outplayed the Rangers, outskating them to every inch of the ice except that one behind Lundqvist, outshooting them, 41-19, and flexing their Western Conference muscles. It was not an unpopular opinion that it was the best game the Kings had played in the series.
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