Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Rangers Game 5 win an emotional one for St. Louis

New York Rangers  v Pittsburgh Penguins - Game Five

PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 9: Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers celebrates his power play goal in the first period with Martin St. Louis #26 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Five of the Second Round of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 9, 2014 at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

Jamie Sabau

PITTSBURGH -- The New York Rangers won Game 5 for Martin St. Louis.

The Rangers’ 5-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins came a day after St. Louis’ mother passed away. After an emotional past 24-48 hours, St. Louis was happy he could honor his mother and help his team avoid elimination to force a Game 6 back in Manhattan.

“You don’t expect these things. It was a tough couple days for my family,” St. Louis said. “I know deep down my mother would’ve wanted me to play this game. She’d be proud of me coming here and help as much as I can. The boys have been so supportive. The support I’ve gotten from the New York Rangers, my teammates, my friends and family, friends around the league, old friends has been unbelievable. I’m glad that we’re able to get this win and stay alive.

“She was a great lady; the best human being I’ve ever known in my life. I owed it to her to do it. I know she would want me to. It’s been a tough day for everyone, but we’re going to keep pushing.”

St. Louis had a lot to debate with himself about whether to play or not. A talk with his father helped ease his mind.

“I’m excited that I got to be there last night and actually saw her before they took her away which I’m thankful to the New York Rangers organization to get all that and rush me over there,” St. Louis said. “I was able to spend some quality time with my father and that conversation [about playing or not] came about. I think he needed that too, for me to play. I know he’s proud and I know my mom’s proud right now.”

While St. Louis didn’t have a point in Game 5, but his presence on the ice and in the locker room after such a difficult time was enough to motivate his teammates.

“Seeing Marty show up after what happened yesterday, it doesn’t surprise you in the game of hockey,” Rangers forward Brad Richards said. “There’s just so many hockey players that have gone through things like that. It’s kind of the way it’s done in our culture. It still means a lot to see him walk into this locker room and know that he stepped away for a few hours to battle with his teammates.

“We thanked him for doing it and we wanted to put in a big effort and make it a memorable night for him because obviously he won’t forget this game.”

The Rangers snapped out of a playoff-long power play drought in Game 5 scoring twice with the man advantage. The five goals scored were also a playoff-high. St. Louis gave credit to his teammates for stepping up, but it’s a situation some players couldn’t imagine being put in.

“I can’t say enough about the guy,” Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said. “He doesn’t want to leave himself out to dry, he comes in, shows up and wants to compete with us and try to win a hockey game. I can’t imagine what he’s going through, what he’s feeling like. It’s emotional. You want to play hard for a guy like that who’s coming from such a tragedy. You want to rally around it and I thought he played a great game tonight.”

With the team coming together like this when facing elimination, they’ll head back to Madison Square Garden hoping to force a Game 7.

“Obviously in a tough time like this, the support I’ve gotten... I didn’t want to be a distraction, I just wanted to pull out a gutsy win and the boys played tremendous,” St. Louis said. “Some guys stepped up really big tonight and that’s how you stay alive.”

Follow @JoeYerdonPHT