Ironically, one night after torturing one of the NHL's best defenses, Gretzky was blanked against one the worst -- he went scoreless in Edmonton's 3-1 loss to Vancouver. But it took Gretzky only 24 more games to shatter Phil Esposito's single-season mark of 76 goals. The record-setter came on Feb. 24 in Buffalo, when Gretzky fired a wrist shot past Don Edwards with 6:36 remaining for goal No. 77. For good measure, he added Nos. 78 and 79 in the final two minutes -- and 13 more goals in the Oilers' final 16 games, meaning that not only had he beaten Esposito's record, he'd obliterated it. He did the same thing with Espo's mark of 152 points, finishing with 212, including the 92 goals.

Not bad for a skinny 21-year-old who could have passed for a stickboy. But in Gretzky's case, appearances were deceiving.

"What separated Wayne from everyone else was his passion for the game," Lowe says. "All stars have a love for the game. What separates players like Wayne is the passion -- he's like Michael Jordan. They take it to the next level."

Dave Taylor, then an All-Star with Los Angeles, later a teammate of Gretzky's in LA, and now the Kings' general manager, agrees with Lowe that Gretzky was never satisfied.

"I never saw a player with that kind of killer instinct," Taylor says. "If it was 4-1, he wanted to make it 5-1. If it was 6-1, he wanted to make it 7-1. He never let up. He always had that drive to score another goal."

And two decades after he put up more goals than anyone in NHL history, The Great One has one regret: that he didn't score more.

"It was a thrill to get 92 goals, but in some ways, I thought I let myself down by not getting 100," says Gretzky, whose challenges today include running the Phoenix Coyotes and managing the Canadian Olympic Team. "Maybe I should have pushed myself more."

In the 20 years since Gretzky made hockey history, only two other players, Brett Hull (86 in 1990-91) and Mario Lemieux (85 in 1988-89) have come within hailing distance of Gretzky's mark. No one has broken 70 goals in a season since 1992-93, when Alexander Mogilny and Teemu Selanne each had 76. With today's defense-first philosophy, no one has managed as many as 60 goals in the past five seasons -- Florida's Pavel Bure won the Rocket Richard Trophy, given to the top goal-scorer, in each of its first two seasons with 58 and 59 goals.

So is Gretzky's record safe for a while?

To Gretzky, the biggest difference today is the caliber of the goalies shooters face night in and night out.

"The way things are now, it's tough enough to score 50 goals in a season, let alone 90," Lowe says. "But things run in cycles. Trends change: Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the game was defense-first and we evolved into a more offensive game. Today, it's back to defense first. I don't think anyone can do it. But you have to expect the unexpected."

To Gretzky, the biggest difference today is the caliber of the goalies shooters face night in and night out.

"Goaltending is unquestionably better now," he says when asked to compare it with 20 years ago. "If there were 21 teams then, there were probably about six top-flight goaltenders. Today, even though there are 30 teams, everyone has a solid goaltender.

"Goalies today are more athletic. The equipment is better today -- the pads are lighter and the protective masks are better, too. Back then, the great goaltenders -- guys like Ken Dryden, Bernie Parent, Billy Smith, and Grant Fuhr -- were athletes. The rest were just goaltenders. Now, they're all athletes."

Though Bure is nowhere near the playmaker Gretzky was, Duane Sutter, the Russian Rocket's former coach with the Florida Panthers, does see some similarities between them.

"Pavel shoots a lot more," says Sutter, who won four Cups with the Islanders. "But one thing they have in common is that they both find ways to get into the open and get their shots off -- from any position and off either foot. They also have very good accuracy."

As great a scorer as Bure is, he has yet to come near Gretzky's record. Nor have Jaromir Jagr, Joe Sakic, or Paul Kariya. Given today's style of play and improved goaltending, the magnitude of Gretzky's accomplishment will only grow over time, as will the difficulty of breaking his mark.

"Time allows greatness to be more appreciated," says Lowe.

"That season is something that will always be special," Sutter says. "He'll always be the best."