Lemieux honored to win fan vote for Greatest NHL Moment

OTTAWA -- One hundred years. One moment.
Out of all that has happened in the NHL's first century, all the great players, all the goals, all the saves, all the games, all the highlights and records and championships, how do you pick one?

In the end, the fans made a magnificent choice for the Greatest NHL Moment presented by Coors Light and Pepsi Zero Sugar: Mario Lemieux, Le Magnifique, scored five goals five ways for the Pittsburgh Penguins against the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 31, 1988. He scored at even strength, on the power play, on the penalty kill, on a penalty shot and into an empty net.
RELATED: [Lemieux's five-goal game voted Greatest NHL Moment]
No one had done it before. No one has done it since. Who knows when, or if, anyone will do it again?
"It means a lot," said Lemieux, who flew to Ottawa for the announcement during the 2017 Scotiabank NHL100 Classic between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators at Lansdowne Park on Saturday.

He said he thought of Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and the Canadiens of the 1960s and '70s.
"For the fans to pick my five goals five ways is something very special, and I'm honored," he said. "I certainly want to thank all the fans for picking that moment."
As part of its Centennial celebration, the NHL asked a panel of broadcasters from NBC Sports Group, NHL Network, Sportsnet and TVA Sports to select 64 moments.
That was hard enough.
Then the NHL placed the 64 moments into a bracket-style format divided into four regions: Calder, Hart, Norris and Vezina. Fans voted from Oct. 18 through Nov. 28.
This, in order, is what Lemieux's five goals five ways defeated head-to-head: Peter and Anton Stastny's eight points each in one game in 1981, Gretzky's 802nd goal to pass Gordie Howe for the all-time lead in 1994, the New York Islanders' fourth straight championship in 1983, Darryl Sittler's record 10-point game in 1976, Gretzky's 39 goals in 50 games in 1981 and Orr's signature Stanley Cup-winning overtime goal in 1970.
"I thought Bobby was going to win, that moment where he scores the overtime goal and he flies through the air," Lemieux said. "It's just something that's going to be part of the NHL for forever."
You could argue Orr's OT goal should have won it. You could argue Gretzky's 50 goals in 39 games should have won it. You could argue Lemieux should have won it not for his five goals five ways, but for his goal against the Minnesota North Stars in Game 2 of the 1991 Stanley Cup Final, when he split two defenders and deked poor goaltender Jon Casey. Each was deserving. So were others.

But that's what makes the game, the vote and ultimately the final result so great.
Lemieux didn't just score five ways in terms of category. He scored five ways in terms of style -- flying past a defender on the right wing and slipping in a shot at even strength, undressing a defender in the slot and eluding the goaltender shorthanded, one-timing a slap shot in the left circle on the power play, making a move on the penalty shot and beating the final horn on the empty-netter.
Oh, and he had three assists, too, for an eight-point night in an 8-6 win. It was a microcosm of his magnificence. So skilled, he could do it all.
"I remember hearing about it and seeing highlights from that game," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby told NHL.com in November. "I think the immediate thing you think of is, 'How do you even do that? Like, how does that even happen?' And then, 'I don't think that's ever going to happen again.' "
In the moment, Lemieux didn't appreciate the significance of it.
"I knew I had scored five, but not five different ways until later that night when I was asked about it after the game," he said. "Just didn't realize during the game. Yeah, it's something special. It's not something that you plan going into the game."
But he appreciated it Saturday.
The game stopped during the second period. A red carpet rolled out. In Lansdowne Park before 33,959 fans, Lemieux walked out with Guy Lafleur, who presented him with a specially commissioned painting by artist Tony Harris, a portrait with a list of the five goals five ways. The painting will hang at Lemieux's home in Pittsburgh.

"Guy was my idol growing up in Montreal," Lemieux said. "He was the best in the world in the '70s when I was watching the Montreal Canadiens. I had a chance the last couple years to spend some time with him on different occasions. So to get this painting from him tonight is even more special."
Another great moment.