MONTREAL -- The Montreal Impact finally got a victory after a month-long wait, even if it was by the slightest of margins. Montreal opened its CONCACAF Champions League campaign with a nail-biting win, beating El Salvadors C.D. FAS 1-0 at Saputo Stadium on Tuesday. Riding a six-game losing streak in Major League Soccer, the victory was a welcome change for an Impact side that has had little to celebrate this season. In last place in the league, Montreals last victory came five weeks ago. But in tournament play on Tuesday, Marco Di Vaio headed home the winner in the first half, and Montreal desperately held on to the lead in the games final minutes after a sending-off reduced the Impact to 10 men with 20 minutes to play. "It feels good to win, to have started this competition on the right foot," said defender Hassoun Camara, who was shown the red card for a studs-up challenge. "Were having trouble in the league, but theres satisfaction and relief today. Now we know that we can play well despite adversity. When theres cohesion, when everyone pulls in the same direction, good things happen." In the 72nd minute, Camara lost control of the ball and slid after it, colliding with FAS Raul Renderos. The Salvadoran midfielder, clutching his thigh, was taken off the pitch on a stretcher. Renderos was back on the field a minute later to the ire of the Montreal faithful. "I had the ball on a counter attack, and I saw the opponent coming at me strong," said Camara, who was sent off for the slide tackle. "For me, that was a 50-50 challenge. Its unfortunate. I thought the referee was a bit harsh. A few apologies on my part would have been enough." Frank Klopas thought the Costa Rican referee Hugo Cruz was harsh, too, when the Impact manager was expelled from the game just 10 minutes after his defender made the shameful walk to the dressing room. Klopas, upset about a free-kick call for FAS deep in Montreals half, was ejected for leaving his technical area. "My box is one of the smallest Ive ever seen," said Klopas, who wont be able to manage the Impact in the teams next Champions League match versus FAS on Aug. 20. "Sometimes Im walking up and down. The official warned me. But sometimes, in the heat of the moment, its very difficult to stay there. "At the same time, theres some frustration when you dont get certain calls. I have to protect my team and my players. Obviously, stepping out of box, you dont even realize it at moments." After the ejections, FAS (0-1-0) pressed for the equalizer, but could not make the most of the man advantage. Without Camara or Klopas, Montreal kept C.D. FAS at bay in the final minutes. Goalkeeper Evan Bush came up with a big save in the 82nd, and the Impact defence did the rest, clearing Bushs penalty box with resolve. With the win, Montreal (1-0-0) now leads its Group 3 opposition -- FAS and the New York Red Bulls -- by three points after just one Champions League match. New York plays its first game of the tournament at the end of August. Only the winner of the group will advance to the eight-team knockout stage. The Champions League is an annual club tournament that involves 24 teams from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Montreal is representing Canada in the competition after winning the Amway Canadian Championship in June. The Impact are now 6-0-2 at home in the clubs third Champions League appearance. Montreal has not conceded in its last 405 minutes of CCL play. On Tuesday, the clubs starting 11 left no doubt about Klopas intentions. With the exceptions of captain Patrice Bernier, who came on as a substitute in the second half, and Heath Pearce, who was left out of the line-up entirely, Montreals roster suggested nothing but a win would do. "Now that we have an opportunity to advance and be in this tournament, its important that we do whatever we can to advance," said Klopas. "Im not saying that the MLS season is not important, but now I know how important this tournament is for this team. "Were going to put everything that we can to try to advance. Its very important for us and the club and the organization and for our fans for us to advance." For the first time in several weeks, the Impact dominated large chunks of a game. At the interval, shots on target were 4-0 in favour of the Impact. One those was Di Vaios. The Italian striker found the back of the net in the 21st when his well-placed precision header beat FAS keeper Luis Contreras to give the Impact an early lead. Left all alone in front of goal, Di Vaio timed his run to perfection and connected with a cross from Felipe. It was more of the same for much of the second half. The Impact dictated the run of play in midfield, but failed to convert golden opportunities in the final third. Bush was untested until the 66th minute when he stopped a tight-angle shot from FAS Jonathan Joya. Montreal plays its next Champions League match against FAS in El Salvador before playing home-and-away against the Red Bulls on Sept. 27 and Oct. 22. From Santa Ana, El Salvador, FAS is one of the most popular soccer teams in the small Central American nation. Playing in the Salvadoran Premier League, the team began their 2014 campaign last Saturday with a 1-0 loss. FAS last won the CONCACAF Champions League, then called the Champions Cup, in 1979. FAS travelled to Montreal with just 14 players, and without its head coach. "Next game, we will definitely have a strong offensive 11," said FAS assistant coach Emiliano Pedrozo through a translator. "We want to play the way we played in the last minutes of this game. Going home, we will have a good result in El Salvador." Elsewhere in the Champions League on Tuesday, defending champions Cruz Azul drew 1-1 with Costa Rican side Alajuelense, while Honduras Deportivo Olimpia beat Alpha United of Guyana 1-0. Notes: In 2008-09, when still in the North American Soccer League, the Impact reached the Champions League quarter-finals. Last year, Montreal didnt make it past the group stage. à Newly acquired midfielder Dilly Duka made his first start in an Impact uniform. à FAS is the most decorated Salvadoran squad with 17 national titles. à Four other MLS clubs are competing in the Champions League: Portland Timbers, Sporting Kansas City, New York Red Bulls, and D.C. United. à Montreal returns to MLS play on Saturday in Philadelphia. Adidas Jerseys . As each game passes (each has played close with the exception of last night) it becomes clearer just how evenly matched these two teams are and how one mistake, or one bad inning, is likely to sway the result. MLB Jerseys . -- Theres something about playing on Orlandos floor lately that seems to bring out the best in the Dallas Mavericks. https://www.cheapjerseysjustwholesale.com/. LOUIS -- The Atlanta Braves used a two-run rally in the ninth to end their road trip with a win. Soccer Jerseys . The Leafs were back on the ice Wednesday following an 10-day break. It apparently wasnt long enough, as Team Canadas 2-1 win over Latvia didnt conclude before the Leafs began practice. "I was thinking we might get a little delay, but it was nice to get out there," said Tyler Bozak of watching Wednesdays game. Cheap Jerseys .com) - The Los Angeles Dodgers made it official Tuesday and signed pitcher Brandon McCarthy to a four-year contract.NEW YORK -- Even the King at his best needed some help to keep the Kings from lifting the Stanley Cup at Madison Square Garden. 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.dddddddddddd "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. ' ' '