1988 - 89 NHL season The 1988 - 89 NHL season was the 72nd season of the National Hockey League . Twenty - one teams each played 80 games . The Calgary Flames won an all Canadian Stanley Cup final against the Montreal Canadiens four games to two . To date , this is the last time two Canadian teams squared off for the Stanley Cup . Regular season . This season saw the Calgary Flames win their first Stanley Cup . They defeated the Montreal Canadiens four games to two in a rematch of the Cup finals from the 1985 - 86 NHL season . Calgary was only the second opposing team in NHL history to win a Stanley Cup at the Montreal Forum ( the New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Maroons in 1928 ) and the first to do so against the Canadiens . This was of particular significance for the proud Canadiens fans and the team ' s tradition of winning Stanley Cups on their home Forum ice . In fact , in what proved to be an extremely classy situation , when the Calgary Flames team and staff paraded the Stanley Cup around the ice in The Forum at the conclusion of the game , the majority of the Forum home fans stood and cheered and clapped for the Flames for an extended period . This clapping was extremely rare and virtually unheard of in The Forum for a visiting team – especially considering that the Flames were the victors on their ice . In 1986 , when the Canadiens had won the Stanley Cup on Calgary ' s Olympic Saddledome , the majority of the hometown Flames fans also stood and cheered and clapped for the Canadiens as well . The Flames also won their second consecutive Presidents ' Trophy as the top regular season team . Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Art Ross Trophy for the second consecutive season , leading the league with 199 points . Lemieux remains the only person other than Wayne Gretzky to approach the 200 point plateau . Gretzky , who had crossed the 200 point mark four times in five years during the 1980s , won his ninth Hart Memorial Trophy as the league ' s MVP . New York Rangers rookie Brian Leetch broke the record for goals by a rookie defenseman with 23 . He finished that season with 71 points and easily captured the Calder Trophy . This year also featured the " new look Kings " as the Los Angeles Kings changed their uniform design and team colours after Wayne Gretzky was added to their line - up , ditching the purple and gold that was largely associated with their co - tenants at the Great Western Forum , the Los Angeles Lakers , to black and silver . Prior to Gretzky ' s arrival , the Kings had the fourth worst record in the NHL at 30 wins , 42 losses , and 8 ties . After Gretzky ' s first season with the Kings , they moved all the way up to fourth best in the NHL with a record of 42 wins , 31 losses , and 7 ties . On March 22 , a horrific incident took place in Buffalo during a game between the Buffalo Sabres and the St . Louis Blues . During a goalmouth collision between the Blues ' Steve Tuttle and the Sabres ' Uwe Krupp , Tuttle ' s skate blade slashed the throat of Buffalo goaltender Clint Malarchuk , severing the latter ' s carotid artery . Thanks to some timely action by Sabres trainer Jim Pizzutelli , Malarchuk was able to quickly receive treatment and was even released from the hospital the next day . Final standings . " Note : W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , GF = Goals For , GA = Goals Against , Pts = Points , PIM = Penalties in minutes " Scoring leaders . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points " Stanley Cup playoffs . The 1989 Stanley Cup featured two Canadian hockey teams , the Montreal Canadiens and the Calgary Flames . Montreal finished the regular season with 115 points , only two behind the league leader Calgary . It was the second time in three years both teams faced each other , with Montreal winning a five - game series in 1986 . The Flames also made history in the Forum by becoming the only visiting NHL team ever to win a Stanley Cup on Forum ice . Flames defenseman Al MacInnis won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP , while Lanny McDonald , who ended the regular season with exactly 500 goals , got his name on the Cup in his last ever NHL game . On their way to the Finals , Montreal lost only three games while eliminating the Hartford Whalers , Boston Bruins , and Philadelphia Flyers . Calgary survived a seven - game series with the Vancouver Canucks before rolling by Los Angeles and eliminating the surprising Chicago Blackhawks in five to reach the Cup Finals . One of the interesting stories of these playoffs , though , was Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings meeting the defending champion Oilers in the first round . The previous season saw the mighty Edmonton Oilers sweep the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals as Gretzky earned the Conn Smythe Trophy setting playoff records for playoff assists , assists in a finals series and points in a finals series . On August 9 , 1988 the Oilers traded Gretzky to the Kings . The Gretzky - led Kings and Oilers ( with many veteran super - stars ) met in the first round of the Smythe Division playoffs , which made for an exciting " return " of Gretzky to Edmonton . In a tough seven game series , Gretzky and the Kings took down the defending Stanley Cup champions after falling behind 3 games to 1 . In the second round Gretzky and the Kings were no match for the Calgary Flames , who swept them in 4 games . Events of note in the postseason , were that Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall became the first netminder to shoot and score a goal in the playoffs , a shorthanded , empty - net score in Game 5 of the Patrick Division semifinals against the Washington Capitals . One round later , Mario Lemieux torched the Flyers for an NHL - record five goals and eight points in a 10 - 7 Pittsburgh win in Game 5 of the Patrick Division Finals . Hextall then made headlines in the Wales Conference Finals , attacking Montreal ' s Chris Chelios in the late stages of Game 6 as retribution for Chelios ' brutal and unpenalized hit on Flyers forward Brian Propp in Game 1 . Hextall received a 12 - game suspension at the start of the 1989 - 90 NHL season for his actions . Also , former Flyers head coach Mike Keenan led Chicago to the Campbell Conference Finals in his first year behind the bench . The Hawks , with 66 points , had the fewest points of any playoff team that season ( and tied in the overall standings with New Jersey , a fifth - place team in the Patrick ) yet played a fierce defensive and energy game which saw them upset first - place Detroit and then St . Louis before bowing to Calgary . Division semi - finals . Hartford Whalers vs . Montreal Canadiens " Montreal wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 0 " Buffalo Sabres vs . Boston Bruins " Boston wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 1 " Washington Capitals vs . Philadelphia Flyers " Philadelphia wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 2 " New York Rangers vs . Pittsburgh Penguins " Pittsburgh wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 0 " Chicago Blackhawks vs . Detroit Red Wings " Chicago wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 2 " Minnesota North Stars vs . St . Louis Blues " St . Louis wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 1 " Vancouver Canucks vs . Calgary Flames Coming into this series , many people expected that the mighty Flames would defeat the Canucks in 4 or 5 games , due to Calgary having a 43 point edge in the regular season . Instead , Vancouver would take Calgary to a thrilling seven game classic . The seventh game would go into overtime , both teams having great chances , the best being a breakaway chance for Vancouver Canuck ' s captain Stan Smyl , only for Mike Vernon to make the unbelieveable save . Unfortunately , Vancouver couldn ' t pull off the upset , as Joel Otto scored the winner ( via a deflection from his skate ) with : 39 seconds left in the first overtime to send the Calgary Flames into the Smythe Division Final . " Calgary wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 3 " Edmonton Oilers vs . Los Angeles Kings " Los Angeles wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 3 " Division finals . Boston Bruins vs . Montreal Canadiens " Montreal wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 1 " Philadelphia Flyers vs . Pittsburgh Penguins " Philadelphia wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 3 " Chicago Blackhawks vs . St . Louis Blues " Chicago wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 1 " Los Angeles Kings vs . Calgary Flames " Calgary wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 0 " Conference finals . Philadelphia Flyers vs . Montreal Canadiens " Montreal wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 2 " Chicago Blackhawks vs . Calgary Flames " Calgary wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 1 " Finals . Montreal Canadiens vs . Calgary Flames The Stanley Cup Finals was decided between the top two teams during the 1988 - 89 NHL regular season . Captain Lanny McDonald scored the second Flames goal in Game 6 . This turned out to be the last goal in his NHL Hall of Fame career because he retired during the following off - season . Doug Gilmour scored two goals in the third period , including the eventual game and Cup winner to cement the victory for the Flames . " Calgary wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 2 " Playoff scoring leaders . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points " Debuts . The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1988 - 89 ( listed with their first team , asterisk ( * ) marks debut in playoffs ) : Last games . The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1988 - 89 ( listed with their last team ) :