Winger Marty St. Louis will play tonight just a day after his mother France died unexpectedly Thursday due to a heart attack. She was 63.
St. Louis learned of his mothers death when the Rangers plane landed in Pittsburgh yesterday and he immediately traveled to Montreal to be with his family and returned to Pittsburgh this afternoon. “He and his dad both agreed that {his} mom would want him to be here,” Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault said of St. Louis deciding to play.
“I think that says a lot about him, but I think that says a lot about his teammates, that he’d want to be here and play tonight,” Vigneault said.
It will surely be an emotional night for St. Louis who has struggled this series.
Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma called the news of St.Louis mother passing “terrible”.
“My heart goes out to Marty and his family,” Bylsma said this morning……It’s terrible for him and him dealing with it.”
The Rangers will make a few lineup changes tonight as smooth skating defenseman John Moore draws back into the lineup along with forward Derek Dorsett.
One knock on the Rangers has been a terrible transition game this series and a lack of puck moving defensemen have haunted them in that area to attack the Penguins with speed. Moore gives New York a better option there than Diaz who was put in the lineup in Games 3 and 4 for his shot on the power play from the point.
As for the Penguins, one thing they will be looking to avoid tonight is giving the Rangers any momentum. In Pittsburgh’s first round series with Tampa Bay in 2011 when they went on to lose in seven games after holding a 3-1 series lead, Game 5 was a turning point as the Penguins were run out of the building in an 8-2 loss at home ice.
The significance of that game was that it got the Lightning’s big guns going, notably Steven Stamkos. For a Rangers team that looks “mentally” tired, the Penguins have New York down and out right now. Need to avoid giving their top players some life with a let down in Game 5.