The 4th-seeded ’88-’89 Hartford Whalers’ offense was just a little better than the 5th-seeded ’87-’88 Hartford Whalers’ in this series. There were three two-goal games and one three-goal game in this series, in terms of the margin of victory. The ’88-’89 Whalers took Game 1 by a score of 8-6 with Carey Wilson‘s two goals and Ron Francis‘ goal and three assists leading the way. Kevin Dineen did register a hat trick in Game 1 for the ’87-’88 Whalers. In Game 2, a goal each from Brian Lawton and Jody Hull, on the PP, in the third period sealed a 5-3 win and a 2-0 series lead. Then, in Game 3, the two teams combined for eight goals in the second period with the ’88-’89 Whalers accounting for five of them. Francis scored two of the five goals. The ’88-’89 Whalers eventually took Game 3 by a score of 7-5. Both Ray Ferraro and Sylvain Turgeon tallied three assists in the game with Turgeon also adding a goal. In the series-deciding Game 4, goaltender Peter Sidorkiewicz stopped 55 of 57 shots for a .965 save percentage for the ’88-’89 Whalers. They clinched the sweep with a 5-2 win in Game 4 with Dineen, one of many players on both teams, potting a hat trick.
| 1st Period | 2nd Period | 3rd Period | Overtime | Total | |
| ’87-’88 Whalers | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | 6 |
| ’88-’89 Whalers | 3 | 1 | 4 | — | 8 |
GAME SUMMARY: ’88-’89 HAR – 8 ’87-’88 HAR – 6 (1-0 ’88-’89 HAR)
STARS OF THE GAME:
1st Star: C – Ron Francis (’88-’89 HAR) – 1 G 3 A 4 P -3 6 S
2nd Star: RW – Kevin Dineen (’88-’89 HAR) – 1 G 1 A 2 P -3 11 S
3rd Star: D – Ulf Samuelsson (’87-’88 HAR) – 1 G 2 A 3 P +4 2 S
| 1st Period | 2nd Period | 3rd Period | Overtime | Total | |
| ’87-’88 Whalers | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 3 |
| ’88-’89 Whalers | 1 | 2 | 2 | — | 5 |
GAME SUMMARY: ’88-’89 HAR – 5 ’87-’88 HAR – 3 (2-0 ’88-’89 HAR)
STARS OF THE GAME:
1st Star: G – Peter Sidorkiewicz (’88-’89 HAR) – W 3.00 GAA .941 SV% (48 SV’s)
2nd Star: LW – Brian Lawton (’88-’89 HAR) – 2 G 0 A 2 P +2 5 S
3rd Star: RW – Kevin Dineen (’88-’89 HAR) – 1 G 1 A 2 P +1 13 S
| 1st Period | 2nd Period | 3rd Period | Overtime | Total | |
| ’88-’89 Whalers | 0 | 5 | 2 | — | 7 |
| ’87-’88 Whalers | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | 5 |
GAME SUMMARY: ’88-’89 HAR – 7 ’87-’88 HAR – 5 (3-0 ’88-’89 HAR)
STARS OF THE GAME:
1st Star: LW – Sylvain Turgeon (’88-’89 HAR) – 1 G 3 A 4 P -1 4 S
2nd Star: C – Ron Francis (’88-’89 HAR) – 2 G 1 A 3 P -1 5 S
3rd Star: C – Ray Ferraro (’88-’89 HAR) – 0 G 3 A 3 P +1 3 S
| 1st Period | 2nd Period | 3rd Period | Overtime | Total | |
| ’88-’89 Whalers | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | 5 |
| ’87-’88 Whalers | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 |
GAME SUMMARY: ’88-’89 HAR – 5 ’87-’88 HAR – 2 (4-0 ’88-’89 HAR)
STARS OF THE GAME:
1st Star: G – Peter Sidorkiewicz (’88-’89 HAR) – W 2.00 GAA .965 SV% (55 SV’s)
2nd Star: RW – Kevin Dineen (’88-’89 HAR) – 3 G 0 A 3 P Even 5 S 2 PIM
3rd Star: LW – Sylvain Turgeon (’88-’89 HAR) – 0 G 2 A 2 P +1 5 S
Up next is the 2-7 matchup between the ’86-’87 Hartford Whalers and the ’79-’80 Hartford Whalers.
