NHL roundup: Penguins’ Lemieux becomes 7th player with 600 goals

Wednesday, Feb. 5, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Mario Lemieux has reached another milestone on the NHL scoring list, while Scotty Bowman is still on the waiting list.

Lemieux became only the seventh player to score 600 goals when he capped the Pittsburgh Penguins' 6-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.

"It's nice to see No. 66 get No. 600," Penguins coach Eddie Johnston said. "That's terrific. You tend to press and want to get it over with as soon as possible, so it's great for it to happen on home ice."

Lemieux joined Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito, Mike Gartner and Bobby Hull as the only players in NHL history with 600 goals. Lemieux, who has 859 assists, also joined Gretzky, Howe, Dionne and Esposito as the only players with 600 goals and 800 assists.

"That's a pretty special list when you look at the guys who have scored 600 goals," Lemieux said.

Meanwhile, Bowman was denied his 1,000th victory. The Detroit coach remained at 999 regular-season wins after a 1-1 tie with the St. Louis Blues.

"I didn't think about it at all during the game," Bowman said. "I was more apprehensive about the game than I was about that."

Lemieux waited until the final minute to score his historic goal into an empty net. Lemieux accomplished the feat in his 719th game, only one more game than it took Wayne Gretzky to do it.

The fans at the Pittsburgh Civic Center serenaded Lemieux with "Mar-i-o, Mar-i-o, Mar-i-o," gave him a standing ovation and even showered him with hats, something usually reserved for hat tricks.

"It was great. That's why I wanted to do it here in this building and in front of the fans," Lemieux said.

Joe Mullen also moved closer to a milestone, scoring his 498th career goal as Pittsburgh improved to 17-5-3 at home. Mullen needs two more to become the first U.S.-born player to score 500 goals.

* BLUES 1, RED WINGS 1: At Detroit, rookie Jim Campbell scored at 5:15 of the third period to deny Bowman his milestone victory. No other coach in NHL history has recorded 1,000 wins.

* FLYERS, 1, SABRES 1: At Philadelphia, Joel Otto scored with 1:55 remaining to give the Flyers a tie with Buffalo.

* ISLANDERS 4, MIGHTY DUCKS 3: Derek Armstrong's goal with 6:48 left in regulation led the Islanders over visiting Anaheim.

* LIGHTNING 2, COYOTES 0: Chris Gratton scored 17 seconds into the game, and Tampa Bay snapped a three-game road losing streak.