This Day in Hockey History – January 26, 1991 and 1997 – Lemieux Stars in Deux

Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburg Penguins was a comeback king. On the same date, January 26, in two years, 1991 and 1997, he faced two different French Canadian teams, the Quebec Nordiques at Le Colisee and the Montreal Canadiens at Molson Centre, and exceeded everyone’s high expectations.

Having left a game with a back injury on February 21, 1990, Lemieux had only played in one game since, on March 31 that year. In July, he had surgery leading to an infection that could have prevented Lemieux from ever walking again. He had vertebral osteomyelitis, which the Pittsburgh Press described as “an infection that attacks the bony portion of the spine.” Lemieux finally started skating with his team about a month before January 26, 1991, his first game back. It had been 50 games since he was last in the Penguins’ lineup. He told the press, “I felt pretty good. I’m just a little sore, but that’s muscle soreness.” His coach, Bob Johnson, cautioned, “You can’t judge Mario Lemieux until about four weeks from now. We hope he’s going to be better than ever.”

Even without being fully conditioned or getting his usual playing time, Lemieux managed three assists. Although his first shift was 52 seconds into the game, the first assist came during his sixth shift, at 1:31 into the second period. He fought off a defenseman to feed the puck to Mark Recchi, and on his next shift, he “carried the puck into the Quebec zone and split defensemen” he fended off a hook and “slid the puck to Errey near the left post.” “I was a little bit nervous in the first period,” confessed Lemieux. “My confidence was a lot better in the second and third.” According to teammate Bob Errey, “It doesn’t take Mario that long to get ready. The best thing for him is to get into the action and get it going.” Lemieux’s final assist was to Cullen at 11:25 of the third period. He was named No. 1 star of the game.

Somewhat overshadowed by Lemieux’s comeback was defenseman Larry Murphy, who had his own worthy assist at 16:47 of the first period. It was his 500th. With all these assists, the Penguins defeated the Quebec Nordiques 6-5.

Despite his late start, Lemieux earned 45 points and then another 44 in the playoffs. Lemieux earned the Conn Smythe Trophy, and the Penguins won their first Stanley Cup.

By 1997, Lemieux seemed to be at the end of his NHL career. Even if that had been true, he had at least one big hurrah remaining. On January 26, he was credited with all five shots on net in the final period, and he scored on four of them. The first occurred at 9:06 and the fourth slid down the length of the ice into the empty net with about 30 seconds remaining. It was his tenth four-goal game, which would have been a record if the NHL tracked that.

Since they were all in the same period, he tied an NHL record as the 11th to manage the feat (but first ever for the Penguins). Up until that point, he had never even had a hat trick at Montreal, and he had just scored his 39th (putting him second only to Wayne Gretzky with 49). Coach Ed Johnston called him amazing because “he was flying all night. He could have had three or four more.” Lemieux was more humble saying, “If you keep getting chances, sooner or later it’s going to go between the posts.” However, he did comment that the game was “by far the best game I’ve ever played here.” It was little wonder the crowd gave him a standing ovation. Center Ron Francis noted, “In what appears to be his final season in the NHL, for him to come in here and put together a game like that, it’s great to see. What a nice treat for him to be able to do that today.” Perhaps the nicest thing for the Penguins was that they defeated the Canadiens 5-2 in only their fifth ever win at Montreal.

Before the playoffs that season, Lemieux announced his retirement. “Physically and mentally it was too difficult,” he said. “I didn’t have the stamina I had before. I couldn’t do the things I used to be able to do.” Not knowing that he would make yet another comeback, almost immediately, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and had his No. 66 retired by the Penguins.

 Additional Sources:

• Dave Molinari, “He’s back: Lemieux helps Penguins win, 6-5,” Pittsburgh Press, 27 Jan. 1991, p. D1 and D12.
• Bob Smizik, “Penguins take aim at their 24-year history of misfortune,” Pittsburgh Press, 27 Jan. 1991, p. D13.
• “For the Record,” Pittsburgh Press, 27 Jan. 1991, p. D19.
• Dave Molinari, “The best kind of homecoming,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 27 Jan. 1997, p. D1 and D8.
• https://thepinkpuck.com/2018/10/05/this-day-in-hockey-history-october-5-1965-double-trouble-in-roy-and-lemieux/