In 1989-90, Mark Messier hit another level as a player with the Edmonton Oilers. He was always a good player and there was no denying that, but his second year post-Gretzky in Edmonton was tremendous.
He scored 45 goals and 129 points in 79 games that year coming second in league scoring to none other than Gretzky.
He was a huge part of why the Oilers won the Stanley Cup that year. Both he and Craig Simpson put up 21 points in 22 playoff games.
And one of Moose’ biggest games came today in 1990 in a 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Edmonton had beat the Winnipeg Jets and LA Kings in the first and second round, before meeting up with the Blackhawks in round three.
Edmonton took game one 5-2, before losing games two and three. I game five, however, Mark Messier took over. He scored two goals and another two assists as he chipped in on every Oilers goal.
He got a second assist on Glenn Anderson’s first period tally at 15:02, before scoring a goal of his own a minute and a half later.
In the second frame, he got the primary assist on Simpson’s goal 11 seconds in to the period, while scoring the fourth goal of the game at the 14:06 mark.
The win kicked off the series comeback for the Oilers, who won two more straight to eliminate the Blackhawks. Edmonton ended up beating the Boston Bruins in the finals — a five-game series that included a marathon triple-overtime game one that the Oilers won.
On Twitter: @zjlaing
