Throwback: Martin St. Louis' Mother's Day goal.

For millions of hockey fans this moment sits on the pantheon of all time great moments in the history of the National Hockey League and that is frankly because it had everything. 

We time travel back to May 11th of 2014 for this one where the New York Rangers were facing off against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was a tough spot for the Rangers who were already down 3 - 2 in the series and were on the brink of elimination, but it was an especially difficult situation for then Rangers forward Martin St. Louis. St. Louis has just 3 days prior to this game lost his mother to a heart attack, France St. Louis was just 63 years old when she passed, and there was serious doubt regarding whether or not he would even be available for Game 5 of the series. Although the stakes for the Rangers were incredibly high with their season on the line no one would have blamed St. Louis for failing to make an appearance, but when Game 5 finally rolled around St. Louis had made his way into the building. 

The Rangers would win Game 5 comfortably but the following Game 6 was on Mother's Day and, given the unbelievable circumstances he was playing under, you can just imagine what a heartbreaking game that must have been for St. Louis. Instead of wilting under the burden of that emotional weight however St. Louis rose to the occasion and scored one of the most emotional goals in history, a goal in which the emotion can be seen plainly on the face of the player as well as on the faces of his teammates and fans in the building. 

Less than 4 minutes had expired in the very first period when St. Louis found himself in the right place at the right time. No doubt his mother was watching down on him in that moment because through a crowd of bodies in front of the Penguins net the puck found its way to St. Louis and he gave the Rangers a 1 - 0 lead in Game 6.

A truly incredible moment, and you can see it here in the video below.