Division 3rd Adams 1988–89 record 38-35-7 Road record 13-23-4 | Conference 5th Wales Home record 25-12-3 Goals for 291 | |
The 1988–89 Buffalo Sabres season, the team's 19th season of existence, saw the Sabres finish in third place in the Adams Division with a record of 38 wins, 35 losses, and 7 ties for 83 points. They lost the Division Semi-finals in five games to the Boston Bruins.
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Clint Malarchuk incident
On March 22, 1989, a horrific incident occurred during a game between the Sabres and the St. Louis Blues at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, when Buffalo goaltender Clint Malarchuk had his jugular vein severed by the skate blade of the Blues' Steve Tuttle during a goal mouth collision. According to reports, eleven fans in the stands fainted, two more had heart attacks, and three players vomited on the ice. The Sabres' training staff was immediately on the scene, and Malarchuk eventually needed 300 stitches to close the wound. Astonishingly, he spent only one night in hospital before returning to practice four days later.
Season standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
Division semi-finals
1989 Stanley Cup playoffs Buffalo Sabres vs. Boston Bruins
Boston wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1
Forwards
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes
Defencemen
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes
Goaltending
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average