Messier scored twice to move past Howe into second place on the NHL's all-time scoring list as the New York Rangers shut out the Dallas Stars, 3-0 before 17,625 fans at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
"I haven't celebrated coming in second too many times in my life," Messier admitted. "But I'll tell you, because of what Gordie has done, for us mere mortals who have played this game, being No. 2 is not so bad."
"We all knew that Mark was one point shy," said Rangers goaltender Jussi Markkanen, who made 34 saves for his sixth NHL shutout.
Mark Messier acknowledges the cheers after his milestone night.(AP Photo/Antony Causi)
"And we all know how good of a team Dallas is. So it was a big game for all of us."
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Messier, 42, deflected Alexei Kovalev's shot just 1:37 into the game to tie Howe's 1,850 career points.
"I cannot lie," Messier said. "I definitely wanted to do it in this rink.
"You only have one opportunity to do things like this."
Messier's empty-net goal with 4.7 seconds remaining gave him 1,851 points in 1,691 games.
Howe's output came over 1,767 games.
"Well, I wasn't really thinking about that point right there," Messier admitted. "Obviously, if the opportunity presented itself, I wasn't going to pass it up."
Although Messier moved into sole possession of second place all-time, Wayne Gretzky remains a distant first with 2,857 points in 1,487 games.
"Besides being a clutch player, he has a thing to come up with the big moment and make it fun for the people around," Rangers defenceman Brian Leetch said.
Messier now stands eighth all-time in goals scored with 682.
He also has 1,169 assists, same as retired defenceman Raymond Bourque.
Only Gretzky (1,963) and Ron Francis of the Carolina Hurricanes (1,223) have more.
"I always find it hard to celebrate something like (milestones)," Messier continued. "But what I have to realize is it's a tremendous honour for all the people I played with and the game of hockey itself."
Messier has six goals and one assist for seven points in 11 games this season, his 10th with the Rangers and 25th in the NHL.
The Edmonton native has also played for the Oilers and Vancouver Canucks.
"I wish it wasn't against us," Stars winger Bill Guerin conceded. "But everybody in the league is happy for Mark.
"He's been the complete package for 25 years and he deserves everything he gets. He's just a machine that keeps on going and going."
Messier has won six Stanley Cups, five with Edmonton and one with New York.
Regarded among the greatest leaders in pro sports history, he is the lone player to captain two Stanley Cup champions -- the 1990 Oilers and 1994 Rangers.
"I think everybody who comes into the league, you feel like you want to come in and establish themselves and contribute to a team and, obviously, win a Stanley Cup," Messier said. "That's what we grow up with.
"You don't think about scoring goals, making assists or entering the Hall of Fame or doing those things."
with files from Sports Network
