On December 31st in 1988, Mario Lemieux collected five goals in a New Year's Eve game against the New Jersey Devils, one in each of the five possible regulation time scoring situations (even strength, shorthanded, powerplay, penalty shot, empty net) in the NHL's pre-shootout era.
Robert Sauvé allowed Mario's first three goals (a hat trick in the opening period) with rookie Chris Terreri surrendering the penalty shot. Lemieux added three assists to his five goals, Mario figured in each of the Penguins eight tallies in their 8-6 win over the Devils.
The feat, dubbed the Mario Lemieux Cycle, is considered by many to be the greatest individual scoring performance in NHL history. It has never been duplicated. The Lemieux Cycle is evidence enough that he is the greatest hockey player of all time; after all, there's no such thing as a Gretzky Cycle!
2016-01-23: DML