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.

GAME 1:

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

GAME 2:

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

GAME 3:

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

GAME 4:

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.