Gretzky vs. Gretzky in battle for Greatest NHL Moment

In the battle to be named Greatest NHL Moment,
Wayne Gretzky
had to face off against
Mario Lemieux
in second-round voting, which concluded Tuesday.
In third-round voting, which began Wednesday, Gretzky faces an even more formidable opponent: himself.

The Great One had three of his moments advance to the third round. Two of them -- scoring his 50th goal in his 39th game of the season on
Dec. 30, 1981
, and becoming the fastest player to 1,000 career points, which he did on
Dec. 19, 1984
-- are going head to head.
His other moment, extending his point-scoring streak to 51 straight games on
Jan 27, 1984
, is up against
Bobby Orr
becoming the first defenseman to score 100 points in a season, which he did on
March 15, 1970
.
The original bracket of 64 moments, as determined by a blue-ribbon panel consisting of broadcasters from NHL national rightsholders NBC Sports Group, NHL Network, Sportsnet and TVA, has been cut to 16 through two rounds of voting. The bracket is divided into four regions: Hart, Norris, Calder and Vezina.

Gretzky scoring career goal No. 802 to pass
Gordie Howe
for the most in NHL history on
March 23, 1994
. was defeated by Lemieux scoring five goals five different ways on
Dec. 31, 1988
. In the third round, that Lemieux moment will face the New York Islanders winning their
fourth straight Stanley Cup
on
May 17, 1983
.
Perhaps the most intriguing third-round matchup is in the Norris Region, where Orr's iconic Stanley Cup-winning goal on
May 10, 1970
, is up against another legendary Bruins defenseman,
Ray Bourque
, being
handed the Stanley Cup
after winning it as a member of the Colorado Avalanche on
June 9, 2001
.
The other half of the Norris features Howe becoming the first player to score 1,000 points on
Nov. 27, 1960
, going up against
Jacques Plante
becoming the first goalie to wear a mask on
Nov. 1, 1959
.

To vote on third-round matchups, fans can visit
NHL.com/GreatestMoments
. They can join the conversation 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.
Here are the voting dates:
Nov. 1-7 -- Round 3
Nov. 8-14 -- Round 4
Nov. 15-21 - Semifinals
Nov. 22-28 - Final
Dec. 16 -- Greatest NHL Moment announced at 2017 Scotiabank NHL100 Classic