Ron Francis scored the go-ahead goal with 8:32 left in the third period and Vancouver's Jyrki Lumme had the apparent tying goal disallowed with 2:06 left.
But Lemieux stole the spotlight by taking a pass on the left wing from Francis, skating the puck along the boards to the top of the left circle and feathering it into the net that was vacated when Vancouver pulled Kirk McLean for an extra attacker.
Lemieux skated with his arms in the air after the goal and had a stoic look on his face until he got to the bench, when long cheers from the crowd eventually made him crack a smile.
"It's a pretty special list. You look at the names: Esposito, Marcel Dionne, Gretzky; to be included on that list is something I'll be able to cherish all my life," said Lemieux, who addressed his and Gretzky's career-long propensity for hitting empty nets. "Most of the time we'll be on the ice. You just have to wait, sit back a little bit; it gives you a good chance to score."
Some of Lemieux's joy was tempered, as he will not make the trip to Montreal for Wednesday night's game due to tightness in his back, giving up a chance for a repeat performance his four-goal third period on January 26th.
"Actually, I didn't feel to great tonight," admitted Lemieux, who has more than hinted that this is his last NHL season. "That's the reason I'm not going to Montreal. It's been sore for a few days, it just didn't get any better."
Francis discussed the game plan for getting Lemieux the historic goal.
"Certainly we were looking for him," said Francis. "We were working hard for him. We tried to get him that one opportunity early, he just missed the net. It's nice to watch Mario get goals -- but I sometimes like to pull out those Stanley Cup films -- but it was certainly nice watching that tonight."
"It's nice to see 66 get 600. That's terrific," Penguins coach Eddie Johnston. "You tend to press, you want to get it over as soon as possible. It's great to have it happen on home ice."
The Penguins won for the third time in four games and handed Vancouver its fifth straight road loss, but only because Trevor Linden's right skate was in the crease when Lumme used his backhand to pop a rebound over Patrick Lalime's blocker.
"The no-goal call cost us a goal and maybe a game or two," complained Vancouver coach Tom Renney. "If his foot is in the air, where are the boundaries of the crease? Obviously, the explaination is, from the ice to the crossbar, four feet in the air. My second question is, was there obstruction from (J.J.) Daigneault when Trevor was trying to leave the crease?"
The goal was announced, but the replay officials overturned the call and Pittsburgh held the lead, setting up Lemieux's heroics.
"We've had a few goals taken away on us, questionable goals with guys in the crease. It worked in our favor for a change," Johnston said. "We've had four or five goals taken away in the last month. This was an easy call."
Mike Sillinger scored twice for the Canucks, who are 0-7-1 in their last eight visits to Pittsburgh, where they have not won since January 7th, 1989.
Jaromir Jagr fought off a check at the top of the right circle and found Francis streaking down the slot. Francis took the puck unmolested and deked McLean before slipping the puck into the right side of the net for his 20th goal of the season.
Vancouver used Sillinger's second goal of the game, a shorthanded marker 1:57 into the third period, to tie the game at 4-4.
Jagr and Joe Mullen scored 12 seconds apart in the second period to lift Pittsburgh into a 4-2 lead, but Dave Roberts countered only 54 seconds later to slice the deficit to one goal. Jagr leads the lead with 43 goals, six more than Lemieux.
Mullen, who turns 40 on February 26th, scored for just the third time this season and moved within two goals of becoming the first American-born player to reach 500 career goals.
Stu Barnes opened the scoring for Pittsburgh with a power-play goal, his 13th, at 6:23 of the first period. Lumme countered 2:05 later with his sixth, but Joe Dziedzic scored for the fourth straight game to give the Penguins back the lead at 13:20. Sillinger waited only 26 seconds to tie it once again.
Lalime finished with 26 saves to improve to 17-2-2. He is 3-2 since running off a 14-0-2 streak to start his career.
"Lalime made some nice saves, I thought both goaltenders made some nice saves," Renney said. "I can appreciate why the fans in Pittsburgh are excited about this guy."
McLean stopped 21 shots for the Canucks.
Jon's 3 stars:
1. Mike Sillinger
2. Jason Woolley
3. Stu Barnes
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