50 goals in 39 games still most special to Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky had his own take on the Greatest NHL Moment.
To be specific, The Great One's greatest individual moment.

Gretzky had three of his moments reach the third round of voting for Greatest NHL Moment. Two of them are going head-to-head: Scoring his 50th goal in his 39th game of the season (Dec. 30, 1981) vs. becoming the fastest player to reach 1,000 career points (Dec. 19, 1984).
"From my point of view, the 50 in 39, I always look at that as the hardest record for somebody to beat," Gretzky told NHL.com. "Consequently, records are made to be broken. But that's going to be the hardest one to break …. the most special one to me."

Gretzky's three career highlights are among the Greatest NHL Moments Presented by Coors Light and Pepsi Zero Sugar. The original bracket of 64 moments -- determined by a panel consisting of broadcasters from NHL national rightsholders NBC Sports Group, NHL Network, Sportsnet and TVA -- is down to 16 after two rounds of voting.
Third-round voting started Wednesday
and continues through Nov. 7.
The third Gretzky moment, in which he extended his point-scoring streak to 51 straight games on Jan. 27. 1984, is going against Bobby Orr becoming the first defenseman to score 100 points in a season on March 15, 1970.
"First of all, each and every guy that did something is special," Gretzky said. "What Mario [Lemieux] and Bobby Orr did and what Gordie Howe did is special."
Gretzky was quick to identify two other team-related career pinnacles, one with the Edmonton Oilers and the other with the Los Angeles Kings.

"From a team point of view, the first [Stanley] Cup with the Oilers [in 1984] and Game 7 [of the 1993 Campbell Conference Final] in Toronto, those are the two highlights of my life, my career," Gretzky said.
In 1993, the Kings defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in the deciding game of the Campbell Conference Final to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time. Gretzky scored three goals and assisted on another.
Fans can visit NHl.com/GreatestMoments to vote and can join the conversation by using the hashtag #NHLGreatestMoments. The fans' choice for the Greatest NHL Moment will be announced during the 2017 Scotiabank NHL100 Classic between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa on Dec. 16 (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, HNIC, TVA Sports, NHL.TV).