Ovi and Crosby, this isn't even close.
Lemieux has basically the same ppg, the same best season and yet Gretzky is the only talent like that in the world? Lemieux disproves this. If Gretzky on his own was that good, he would've won with LA, he didn't.
He played with five OTHER hall of famers, Crosby had Malkin who is a lock and maybe one of MAF/Letang. Chicago had 2, maybe 3 hall of famers when they won 3 cups. Gretzky's "lone dominance" is overstated, he could not on his own will a team to a cup.
Lemieux doesn’t have close to the same PPG as Gretzky unless you are comparing careers of 915 games to 1487 games. Even then it’s Gretzky without the luxury of ppg preservation due to only playing 170 games clearly post prime compared to the 562 Gretzky did. We are talking prime here. Everyone can define that differently but I think most would agree Gretzky’s prime ended after the 90-91. He’d have been on a slow decline after that but the Suter hit gave it an abrupt end. Lemieux’s prime in my opinion ended in 95-96 although he was virtually the same in the second half of 96 and first half of 97. I’d count either season as the end of prime for him. I saw him play those seasons and while he wasn’t at his peak anymore it would still be 100% be prime range.
From ‘80-‘91 Gretzky averaged 2.32 ppg and Lemieux from ‘85-‘97 (up to retirement) averaged 2.01 ppg. 925 games to 745. In Gretzky’s first 745 games his ppg was at 2.38. A 25-31 point gap per 82 games is a different tier.
This also holds true for best season. Especially when you look at years and compare them without clear gaps in games played. With both playing 70% or above:
Wayne Gretzky ‘83-‘84: 57 GP: 73 G, 98 A, 171 PTS (3.0 PPG)
Wayne Gretzky ‘84-‘85: 60 GP: 60 G, 107 A, 167 PTS (2.78 PPG)
Wayne Gretzky ‘81-‘82: 64 GP: 79 G, 97 A, 176 PTS (2.75 PPG)
Wayne Gretzky ‘85-‘86: 68 GP: 48 G, 139 A, 187 PTS (2.75 PPG)
Mario Lemieux ‘88-‘89: 62 GP: 65 G, 104 A, 169 PTS (2.73 PPG)
Mario Lemieux ‘92-‘93: 58 GP: 67 G, 90 A, 157 PTS (2.71 PPG)
Their best paces are still over 20 points apart and Lemieux couldn’t win without a stacked team either.
Just for the record not only would I take prime Gretzky alone over Crosby/Ovi but I’d take prime Lemieux over the duo as well. They both are just that much better that they overcome the duo. One is clearly better than the other though. Am old enough to have seen the entirety of both careers.