1998 Stanley Cup playoffs#Conference quarterfinals

The top eight teams in each conference qualified for the playoffs. The top two seeds in each conference were awarded to the division winners; while the six remaining spots were awarded to the highest finishers in their respective conferences.

The following teams qualified for the playoffs:

1. New Jersey Devils, Atlantic Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions – 107 points
2. Pittsburgh Penguins, Northeast Division champions – 98 points
3. Philadelphia Flyers – 95 points
4. Washington Capitals – 92 points
5. Boston Bruins – 91 points
6. Buffalo Sabres – 89 points
7. Montreal Canadiens – 87 points
8. Ottawa Senators – 83 points

1. Dallas Stars, Central Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 109 points
2. Colorado Avalanche, Pacific Division champions – 95 points
3. Detroit Red Wings – 103 points
4. St. Louis Blues – 98 points
5. Los Angeles Kings – 87 points
6. Phoenix Coyotes – 82 points
7. Edmonton Oilers – 80 points
8. San Jose Sharks – 78 points

In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series, following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage played at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team played at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). For any series played between Central and Pacific Division teams, the team with home ice advantage had the option of using a 2–3–2 format to reduce travel, with the sites for games five and six switched; if the 2–3–2 format was chosen, the team with home ice advantage then had the additional option to start the series on the road instead of at home. The top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs, with the two division winners seeded 1–2 based on regular season record, and the five remaining teams seeded 3–8.

The NHL used "re-seeding" instead of a fixed bracket playoff system. During the first three rounds, the highest remaining seed in each conference was matched against the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed played the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. The higher-seeded team was awarded home ice advantage. The two conference winners then advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, where home ice advantage was awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.

{{#invoke:transcludable section|main|section=Bracket|text=

{{16TeamBracket|RD1-RD2-path=0

| RD1=Conference quarterfinals

| RD2=Conference semifinals

| RD3=Conference finals

| RD4=Stanley Cup Finals

| RD2-group1=Eastern Conference

| RD2-group2=Western Conference

| RD1-seed01=1

| RD1-team01=New Jersey

| RD1-score01=2

| RD1-seed02=8

| RD1-team02=Ottawa

| RD1-score02=4

| RD1-seed03=2

| RD1-team03=Pittsburgh

| RD1-score03=2

| RD1-seed04=7

| RD1-team04=Montreal

| RD1-score04=4

| RD1-seed05=3

| RD1-team05=Philadelphia

| RD1-score05=1

| RD1-seed06=6

| RD1-team06=Buffalo

| RD1-score06=4

| RD1-seed07=4

| RD1-team07=Washington

| RD1-score07=4

| RD1-seed08=5

| RD1-team08=Boston

| RD1-score08=2

| RD1-seed09=1

| RD1-team09=Dallas

| RD1-score09=4

| RD1-seed10=8

| RD1-team10=San Jose

| RD1-score10=2

| RD1-seed11=2

| RD1-team11=Colorado

| RD1-score11=3

| RD1-seed12=7

| RD1-team12=Edmonton

| RD1-score12=4

| RD1-seed13=3

| RD1-team13=Detroit

| RD1-score13=4

| RD1-seed14=6

| RD1-team14=Phoenix

| RD1-score14=2

| RD1-seed15=4

| RD1-team15=St. Louis

| RD1-score15=4

| RD1-seed16=5

| RD1-team16=Los Angeles

| RD1-score16=0

| RD2-seed01=4

| RD2-team01=Washington

| RD2-score01=4

| RD2-seed02=8

| RD2-team02=Ottawa

| RD2-score02=1

| RD2-seed03=6

| RD2-team03=Buffalo

| RD2-score03=4

| RD2-seed04=7

| RD2-team04=Montreal

| RD2-score04=0

| RD2-seed05=1

| RD2-team05=Dallas

| RD2-score05=4

| RD2-seed06=7

| RD2-team06=Edmonton

| RD2-score06=1

| RD2-seed07=3

| RD2-team07=Detroit

| RD2-score07=4

| RD2-seed08=4

| RD2-team08=St. Louis

| RD2-score08=2

| RD3-seed01=4

| RD3-team01=Washington

| RD3-score01=4

| RD3-seed02=6

| RD3-team02=Buffalo

| RD3-score02=2

| RD3-seed03=1

| RD3-team03=Dallas

| RD3-score03=2

| RD3-seed04=3

| RD3-team04=Detroit

| RD3-score04=4

| RD4-seed01=E4

| RD4-team01=Washington

| RD4-score01=0

| RD4-seed02=W3

| RD4-team02=Detroit

| RD4-score02=4

}}

}}

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Ottawa Senators

|team2=New Jersey Devils

|stadium2=Corel Centre

|stadium1=Continental Airlines Arena

|date1 =April 22

|score1 =2–1

|ot1 =1

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-njd/1998/04/22/1997030111#game=1997030111,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =Alexei Yashin (1) – 18:48

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =16:36 – Doug Gilmour (1)

|1-4-1 =Bruce Gardiner (1) – 05:58

|1-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Damian Rhodes 28 saves / 29 shots

|goalie1-2 =Martin Brodeur 30 saves / 32 shots

|date2 =April 24

|score2 =1–3

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-njd/1998/04/24/1997030112#game=1997030112,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Chris Murray (1) – 03:38

|2-1-2 =09:19 – pp – Dave Andreychuk (1)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =18:58 – Doug Gilmour (2)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =19:19 – en – Doug Gilmour (3)

|goalie2-1 =Damian Rhodes 29 saves / 31 shots

|goalie2-2 =Martin Brodeur 27 saves / 28 shots

|date3 =April 26

|score3 =1–2

|ot3 =1

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-ott/1998/04/26/1997030113#game=1997030113,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =04:56 – pp – Janne Laukkanen (1)

|3-2-2 =Bobby Carpenter (1) – 00:36

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|3-4-1 =02:47 – pp – Alexei Yashin (2)

|3-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Damian Rhodes 30 saves / 31 shots

|goalie3-2 =Martin Brodeur 21 saves / 23 shots

|date4 =April 28

|score4 =3–4

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-ott/1998/04/28/1997030114#game=1997030114,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =16:20 – Daniel Alfredsson (1)

|4-1-2 =Denis Pederson (1) – sh – 06:33

|4-2-1 =06:50 – Daniel Alfredsson (2)
16:24 – pp – Jason York (1)

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =05:00 – Daniel Alfredsson (3)

|4-3-2 =Scott Stevens (1) – 14:04
Doug Gilmour (4) – pp – 18:41

|goalie4-1 =Damian Rhodes 31 saves / 34 shots

|goalie4-2 =Martin Brodeur 24 saves / 28 shots

|date5 =April 30

|score5 =1–3

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-njd/1998/04/30/1997030115#game=1997030115,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =11:04 – sh – Brian Rolston (1)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =08:33 – pp – Lyle Odelein (1)

|5-3-1 =Igor Kravchuk (1) – 10:38

|5-3-2 =11:52 – Doug Gilmour (5)

|goalie5-1 =Damian Rhodes 23 saves / 26 shots

|goalie5-2 =Martin Brodeur 22 saves / 23 shots

|date6 =May 2

|score6 =1–3

|won6 =1

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/njd-vs-ott/1998/05/02/1997030116#game=1997030116,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =08:28 – pp – Alexei Yashin (3)

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =10:30 – Janne Laukkanen (2)

|6-2-2 =Kevin Dean (1) – 05:24

|6-3-1 =19:10 – en – Igor Kravchuk (2)

|6-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie6-1 =Damian Rhodes 21 saves / 22 shots

|goalie6-2 =Martin Brodeur 28 saves / 30 shots

|series = Ottawa won series 4–2

}}

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Montreal Canadiens

|team2=Pittsburgh Penguins

|stadium2=Molson Centre

|stadium1=Civic Arena

|date1 =April 23

|score1 =3–2

|ot1 =1

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-pit/1998/04/23/1997030121#game=1997030121,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Martin Rucinsky (1) – pp – 12:15

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =Peter Popovic (1) – 16:44

|1-2-2 =07:21 – sh – Brad Werenka (1)

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =18:22 – Stu Barnes (1)

|1-4-1 =Benoit Brunet (1) – 18:43

|1-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Andy Moog 34 saves / 36 shots

|goalie1-2 =Tom Barrasso 37 saves / 40 shots

|date2 =April 25

|score2 =1–4

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-pit/1998/04/25/1997030122#game=1997030122,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Vincent Damphousse (1) – pp – 18:29

|2-1-2 =11:13 – pp – Eddie Olczyk (1)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =10:42 – Stu Barnes (2)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =01:12 – Stu Barnes (3)
19:03 – en – Ron Francis (1)

|goalie2-1 =Andy Moog 24 saves / 27 shots

|goalie2-2 =Tom Barrasso 27 saves / 28 shots

|date3 =April 27

|score3 =1–3

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/pit-vs-mtl/1998/04/27/1997030123#game=1997030123,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =05:33 – Martin Rucinsky (2)

|3-1-2 =Jaromir Jagr (1) – 17:10

|3-2-1 =04:47 – pp – Shayne Corson (1)

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =09:56 – Shayne Corson (2)

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Andy Moog 19 saves / 20 shots

|goalie3-2 =Tom Barrasso 19 saves / 22 shots

|date4 =April 29

|score4 =6–3

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/pit-vs-mtl/1998/04/29/1997030124#game=1997030124,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =06:25 – pp – Vladimir Malakhov (1)

|4-1-2 =Rob Brown (1) – pp – 03:19
Kevin Hatcher (1) – pp – 04:43
Jaromir Jagr (2) – pp – 16:53
Eddie Olczyk (2) – sh – 19:25

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =Martin Straka (1) – sh – 02:59

|4-3-1 =01:48 – Marc Bureau (1)
17:30 – Jonas Hoglund (1)

|4-3-2 =Jaromir Jagr (3) – en – 19:48

|goalie4-1 =Andy Moog 4 saves / 9 shots
Jose Theodore 10 saves / 10 shots

|goalie4-2 =Tom Barrasso 27 saves / 30 shots

|date5 =May 1

|score5 =5–2

|won5 =1

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-pit/1998/05/01/1997030125#game=1997030125,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =No scoring

|5-2-1 =Patrice Brisebois (1) – 10:33
Shayne Corson (3) – 12:02

|5-2-2 =No scoring

|5-3-1 =Mark Recchi (1) – 01:01
Vincent Damphousse (2) – 18:53
Mark Recchi (2) – en – 19:19

|5-3-2 =05:45 – Martin Straka (2)
13:30 – Jaromir Jagr (4)

|goalie5-1 =Andy Moog 32 saves / 34 shots

|goalie5-2 =Tom Barrasso 24 saves / 28 shots

|date6 =May 3

|score6 =0–3

|won6 =1

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/pit-vs-mtl/1998/05/03/1997030126#game=1997030126,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =09:27 – Mark Recchi (3)
14:36 – Jonas Hoglund (2)

|6-2-2 =No scoring

|6-3-1 =06:52 – pp – Saku Koivu (1)

|6-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie6-1 =Andy Moog 21 saves / 21 shots

|goalie6-2 =Tom Barrasso 20 saves / 23 shots

|series = Montreal won series 4–2

}}

This was the second consecutive and fifth overall playoff meeting between these two teams; with Philadelphia winning all four previous series. Philadelphia won last year's Eastern Conference Semifinals in five games.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Buffalo Sabres

|team2=Philadelphia Flyers

|stadium2=Marine Midland Arena

|stadium1=CoreStates Center

|date1 =April 22

|score1 =3–2

|won1 =1

|recap1 =https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-phi/1998/04/22/1997030131#game=1997030131,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Michal Grosek (1) – 16:50

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =Wayne Primeau (1) – 18:18

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =Donald Audette (1) – 11:43

|1-3-2 =08:29 – Rod Brind'Amour (1)
08:48 – Chris Gratton (1)

|goalie1-1 =Dominik Hasek 22 saves / 24 shots

|goalie1-2 =Sean Burke 22 saves / 25 shots

|date2 =April 24

|score2 =2–3

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-phi/1998/04/24/1997030132#game=1997030132,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =05:24 – Eric Lindros (1)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =04:07 – Chris Gratton (2)

|2-3-1 =Michal Grosek (2) – pp – 02:33
Dixon Ward (1) – 09:22

|2-3-2 =16:28 – pp – John LeClair (1)

|goalie2-1 =Dominik Hasek 35 saves / 38 shots

|goalie2-2 =Sean Burke 25 saves / 27 shots

|date3 =April 27

|score3 =1–6

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-buf/1998/04/27/1997030133#game=1997030133,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =02:20 – pp – Miroslav Satan (1)

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =09:37 – Michal Grosek (3)
11:29 – pp – Miroslav Satan (2)
14:20 – sh – Darryl Shannon (1)
15:05 – sh – Brian Holzinger (1)

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =19:23 – Vaclav Varada (1)

|3-3-2 =Dan McGillis (1) – pp – 13:51

|goalie3-1 =Dominik Hasek 31 saves / 32 shots

|goalie3-2 =Sean Burke 15 saves / 20 shots
Ron Hextall 7 saves / 8 shots

|date4 =April 29

|score4 =1–4

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-buf/1998/04/29/1997030134#game=1997030134,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =17:37 – Dixon Ward (2)
19:05 – pp – Miroslav Satan (3)

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =01:38 – pp – Matthew Barnaby (1)
05:16 – pp – Brian Holzinger (2)

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Rod Brind'Amour (2) – pp – 05:16

|goalie4-1 =Dominik Hasek 44 saves / 45 shots

|goalie4-2 =Sean Burke 16 saves / 20 shots

|date5 =May 1

|score5 =3–2

|ot5 =1

|won5 =1

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-phi/1998/05/01/1997030135#game=1997030135,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =Jason Woolley (1) – pp – 02:29

|5-1-2 =No scoring

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =01:49 – Mike Sillinger (1)

|5-3-1 =Donald Audette (2) – pp – 08:26

|5-3-2 =13:08 – pp – Dave Babych (1)

|5-4-1 =Michal Grosek (4) – pp – 05:40

|5-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie5-1 =Dominik Hasek 35 saves / 37 shots

|goalie5-2 =Sean Burke 26 saves / 29 shots

|series = Buffalo won series 4–1

}}

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 1990 Wales Conference Final, where Boston won in a four-game sweep.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Boston Bruins

|team2=Washington Capitals

|stadium2=Fleet Center

|stadium1=MCI Center

|date1 =April 22

|score1 =1–3

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-wsh/1998/04/22/1997030141#game=1997030141,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =16:40 – Brian Bellows (1)

|1-2-1 =Dmitri Khristich (1) – pp – 06:53

|1-2-2 =02:49 – Sergei Gonchar (1)

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =19:38 – en – Esa Tikkanen (1)

|goalie1-1 =Byron Dafoe 25 saves / 27 shots

|goalie1-2 =Olaf Kolzig 27 saves / 28 shots

|date2 =April 24

|score2 =4–3

|ot2 =2

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-wsh/1998/04/24/1997030142#game=1997030142,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =04:45 – pp – Esa Tikkanen (2)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =03:24 – Calle Johansson (1)

|2-3-1 =Jason Allison (1) – 00:54
P. J. Axelsson (1) – 06:10
Darren Van Impe (1) – pp – 17:03

|2-3-2 =19:23 – Sergei Gonchar (2)

|2-4-1 =Darren Van Impe (2) – 00:54

|2-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Byron Dafoe 25 saves / 28 shots

|goalie2-2 =Olaf Kolzig 36 saves / 40 shots

|date3 =April 26

|score3 =3–2

|ot3 =2

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wsh-vs-bos/1998/04/26/1997030143#game=1997030143,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =Sergei Gonchar (3) – pp – 18:30

|3-2-1 =19:00 – pp – Kyle McLaren (1)

|3-2-2 =Sergei Gonchar (4) – 14:15

|3-3-1 =10:59 – pp – Dmitri Khristich (2)

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|3-4-1 =No scoring

|3-4-2 =Joe Juneau (1) – 06:31

|goalie3-1 =Byron Dafoe 24 saves / 27 shots

|goalie3-2 =Olaf Kolzig 52 saves / 54 shots

|date4 =April 28

|score4 =3–0

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wsh-vs-bos/1998/04/28/1997030144#game=1997030144,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =Adam Oates (1) – 16:10

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =Adam Oates (2) – pp – 02:42

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Ken Klee (1) – 09:14

|goalie4-1 =Byron Dafoe 15 saves / 18 shots

|goalie4-2 =Olaf Kolzig 38 saves / 38 shots

|date5 =May 1

|score5 =4–0

|won5 =1

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-wsh/1998/05/01/1997030145#game=1997030145,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =No scoring

|5-2-1 =Sergei Samsonov (1) – 02:20
Jason Allison (2) – pp – 08:54
Rob DiMaio (1) – 18:00

|5-2-2 =No scoring

|5-3-1 =Ray Bourque (1) – pp – 15:10

|5-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie5-1 =Byron Dafoe 26 saves / 26 shots

|goalie5-2 =Olaf Kolzig 26 saves / 30 shots

|date6 =May 3

|score6 =3–2

|ot6 =1

|won6 =2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wsh-vs-bos/1998/05/03/1997030146#game=1997030146,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =Richard Zednik (1) – 06:54

|6-2-1 =05:26 – Sergei Samsonov (2)

|6-2-2 =Adam Oates (3) – 06:04

|6-3-1 =09:13 – Anson Carter (1)

|6-3-2 =No scoring

|6-4-1 =No scoring

|6-4-2 =Brian Bellows (2) – 15:24

|goalie6-1 =Byron Dafoe 30 saves / 33 shots

|goalie6-2 =Olaf Kolzig 47 saves / 49 shots

|series = Washington won series 4–2

}}

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=San Jose Sharks

|team2=Dallas Stars

|stadium2=San Jose Arena

|stadium1=Reunion Arena

|date1 =April 22

|score1 =1–4

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/sjs-vs-dal/1998/04/22/1997030151#game=1997030151,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Owen Nolan (1) – pp – 12:40

|1-1-2 =02:22 – Joe Nieuwendyk (1)
02:59 – Juha Lind (1)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =03:30 – pp – Derian Hatcher (1)

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =19:58 – en – Mike Modano (1)

|goalie1-1 =Mike Vernon 27 saves / 30 shots

|goalie1-2 =Ed Belfour 21 saves / 22 shots

|date2 =April 24

|score2 =2–5

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/sjs-vs-dal/1998/04/24/1997030152#game=1997030152,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =01:25 – pp – Jere Lehtinen (1)
19:31 – Derian Hatcher (2)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =16:29 – pp – Pat Verbeek (1)
18:26 – pp – Benoit Hogue (1)

|2-3-1 =Bill Houlder (1) – 07:46
Murray Craven (1) – 19:02

|2-3-2 =17:05 – pp – Pat Verbeek (2)

|goalie2-1 =Mike Vernon 10 saves / 14 shots
Kelly Hrudey 5 saves / 6 shots

|goalie2-2 =Ed Belfour 18 saves / 20 shots

|date3 =April 26

|score3 =1–4

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-sjs/1998/04/26/1997030153#game=1997030153,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =Sergei Zubov (1) – pp – 04:16

|3-2-1 =05:06 – John MacLean (1)
06:13 – pp – Owen Nolan (2)

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =01:04 – pp – Al Iafrate (1)
16:55 – pp – Mike Rathje (1)

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Mike Vernon 13 saves / 14 shots

|goalie3-2 =Ed Belfour 21 saves / 25 shots

|date4 =April 28

|score4 =0–1

|ot4 =1

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-sjs/1998/04/28/1997030154#game=1997030154,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|4-4-1 =06:31 – Andrei Zyuzin (1)

|4-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Mike Vernon 26 saves / 26 shots

|goalie4-2 =Ed Belfour 22 saves / 23 shots

|date5 =April 30

|score5 =2–3

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/sjs-vs-dal/1998/04/30/1997030155#game=1997030155,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =19:57 – pp – Mike Modano (2)

|5-2-1 =John MacLean (2) – pp – 11:26
Ron Sutter (1) – 11:34

|5-2-2 =16:29 – Juha Lind (2)

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =11:08 – Mike Modano (3)

|goalie5-1 =Mike Vernon 23 saves / 26 shots

|goalie5-2 =Ed Belfour 18 saves / 20 shots

|date6 =May 2

|score6 =3–2

|ot6 =1

|won6 =2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-sjs/1998/05/02/1997030156#game=1997030156,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =16:25 – pp – Joe Murphy (1)

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =07:51 – Mike Ricci (1)

|6-2-2 =Richard Matvichuk (1) – 10:59
Mike Keane (1) – sh – 16:04

|6-3-1 =No scoring

|6-3-2 =No scoring

|6-4-1 =No scoring

|6-4-2 =Mike Keane (2) – 03:43

|goalie6-1 =Mike Vernon 25 saves / 28 shots

|goalie6-2 =Ed Belfour 19 saves / 21 shots

|series = Dallas won series 4–2

}}

This was the second consecutive playoff meeting and second postseason match-up between these two teams. Colorado won last year's Western Conference Semifinals in five games.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Edmonton Oilers

|team2=Colorado Avalanche

|stadium2=Edmonton Coliseum

|stadium1=McNichols Sports Arena

|date1 =April 22

|score1 =3–2

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-col/1998/04/22/1997030161#game=1997030161,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =15:31 – pp – Peter Forsberg (1)

|1-3-1 =Bill Guerin (1) – pp – 11:02
Dean McAmmond (1) – 12:22
Boris Mironov (1) – 14:51

|1-3-2 =00:17 – Peter Forsberg (2)

|goalie1-1 =Curtis Joseph 25 saves / 27 shots

|goalie1-2 =Patrick Roy 31 saves / 34 shots

|date2 =April 24

|score2 =2–5

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-col/1998/04/24/1997030162#game=1997030162,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =01:22 – pp – Valeri Kamensky (1)
02:54 – Peter Forsberg (3)

|2-2-1 =Bill Guerin (2) – pp – 10:53

|2-2-2 =11:28 – sh – Joe Sakic (1)
13:23 – pp – Peter Forsberg (4)

|2-3-1 =Bill Guerin (3) – pp – 15:27

|2-3-2 =00:30 – Valeri Kamensky (2)

|goalie2-1 =Curtis Joseph 17 saves / 21 shots
Bob Essensa 10 saves / 11 shots

|goalie2-2 =Patrick Roy 25 saves / 27 shots

|date3 =April 26

|score3 =5–4

|ot3 =1

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/col-vs-edm/1998/04/26/1997030163#game=1997030163,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =Adam Deadmarsh (1) – 03:50
Claude Lemieux (1) – pp – 14:19

|3-2-1 =06:50 – Boris Mironov (2)
16:44 – pp – Doug Weight (1)

|3-2-2 =Adam Deadmarsh (2) – pp – 09:51

|3-3-1 =11:11 – Bill Guerin (4)
12:32 – Kelly Buchberger (1)

|3-3-2 =Claude Lemieux (2) – 02:14

|3-4-1 =No scoring

|3-4-2 =Joe Sakic (2) – 15:25

|goalie3-1 =Curtis Joseph 30 saves / 35 shots

|goalie3-2 =Patrick Roy 27 saves / 31 shots

|date4 =April 28

|score4 =3–1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/col-vs-edm/1998/04/28/1997030164#game=1997030164,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =17:52 – pp – Ryan Smyth (1)

|4-1-2 =Peter Forsberg (5) – 18:09

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Claude Lemieux (3) – 10:59
Peter Forsberg (6) – en – 19:35

|goalie4-1 =Curtis Joseph 22 saves / 24 shots

|goalie4-2 =Patrick Roy 26 saves / 27 shots

|date5 =April 30

|score5 =3–1

|won5 =1

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-col/1998/04/30/1997030165#game=1997030165,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =16:20 – Stephane Yelle (1)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =No scoring

|5-3-1 =Bill Guerin (5) – pp – 04:25
Mike Grier (1) – 13:11
Mike Grier (2) – en – 19:05

|5-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie5-1 =Curtis Joseph 30 saves / 31 shots

|goalie5-2 =Patrick Roy 30 saves / 32 shots

|date6 =May 2

|score6 =0–2

|won6 =1

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/col-vs-edm/1998/05/02/1997030166#game=1997030166,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =03:10 – Drake Berehowsky (1)

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =No scoring

|6-2-2 =No scoring

|6-3-1 =10:21 – pp – Boris Mironov (3)

|6-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie6-1 =Curtis Joseph 31 saves / 31 shots

|goalie6-2 =Patrick Roy 21 saves / 23 shots

|date7 =May 4

|score7 =4–0

|won7 =1

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-col/1998/05/04/1997030167#game=1997030167,game_state=final

|7-1-1 =Janne Niinimaa (1) – 04:22
Bill Guerin (6) – 19:22

|7-1-2 =No scoring

|7-2-1 =Todd Marchant (1) – 08:54

|7-2-2 =No scoring

|7-3-1 =Mats Lindgren (1) – 01:45

|7-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie7-1 =Curtis Joseph 31 saves / 31 shots

|goalie7-2 =Patrick Roy 13 saves / 17 shots

|series = Edmonton won series 4–3

}}

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 1996 Western Conference Quarterfinals where Detroit defeated the Winnipeg Jets in six games.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Phoenix Coyotes

|team2=Detroit Red Wings

|stadium2=America West Arena

|stadium1=Joe Louis Arena

|date1 =April 22

|score1 =3–6

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phx-vs-det/1998/04/22/1997030171#game=1997030171,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Rick Tocchet (1) – 11:27

|1-1-2 =05:31 – pp – Nicklas Lidstrom (1)
10:36 – Joey Kocur (1)
12:59 – Sergei Fedorov (1)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =13:26 – Darren McCarty (1)
16:11 – Joey Kocur (2)
19:50 – Kirk Maltby (1)

|1-3-1 =Cliff Ronning (1) – 05:15
Bob Corkum (1) – 11:00

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 17 saves / 22 shots
Jimmy Waite 12 saves / 13 shots

|goalie1-2 =Chris Osgood 17 saves / 20 shots

|date2 =April 24

|score2 =7–4

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phx-vs-det/1998/04/24/1997030172#game=1997030172,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Mike Gartner (1) – pp – 02:34
Keith Tkachuk (1) – 11:00

|2-1-2 =11:13 – Igor Larionov (1)

|2-2-1 =Rick Tocchet (2) – 04:39
Jeremy Roenick (1) – sh – 07:13
Jeremy Roenick (2) – sh – 13:24
Keith Tkachuk (2) – 13:51

|2-2-2 =13:32 – pp – Mathieu Dandenault (1)
15:10 – Sergei Fedorov (2)

|2-3-1 =Rick Tocchet (3) – 01:45

|2-3-2 =04:05 – Sergei Fedorov (3)

|goalie2-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 34 saves / 38 shots

|goalie2-2 =Chris Osgood 21 saves / 28 shots

|date3 =April 26

|score3 =2–3

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-phx/1998/04/26/1997030173#game=1997030173,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =Sergei Fedorov (4) – 00:30
Brendan Shanahan (1) – 01:01

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =00:58 – pp – Rick Tocchet (4)
02:19 – pp – Jeremy Roenick (3)
12:47 – Jeremy Roenick (4)

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 25 saves / 27 shots

|goalie3-2 =Chris Osgood 29 saves / 32 shots

|date4 =April 28

|score4 =4–2

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-phx/1998/04/28/1997030174#game=1997030174,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =10:07 – pp – Rick Tocchet (5)

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =Igor Larionov (1) – 03:22
Vyacheslav Kozlov (1) – 06:25
Jamie Macoun (1) – 19:59

|4-3-1 =18:31 – Shane Doan (1)

|4-3-2 =Nicklas Lidstrom (2) – 13:59

|goalie4-1 =Nikolai Khabibulin 17 saves / 19 shots
Jimmy Waite 18 saves / 20 shots

|goalie4-2 =Chris Osgood 32 saves / 34 shots

|date5 =April 30

|score5 =1–3

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phx-vs-det/1998/04/30/1997030175#game=1997030175,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =Rick Tocchet (6) – pp – 13:18

|5-1-2 =08:54 – Tomas Holmstrom (1)
17:26 – Vyacheslav Kozlov (2)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =01:07 – Sergei Fedorov (5)

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie5-1 =Jimmy Waite 24 saves / 27 shots

|goalie5-2 =Chris Osgood 17 saves / 18 shots

|date6 =May 3

|score6 =5–2

|won6 =2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-phx/1998/05/03/1997030176#game=1997030176,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =07:03 – pp – Jeremy Roenick (5)

|6-1-2 =Steve Yzerman (1) – pp – 15:28

|6-2-1 =02:02 – Keith Tkachuk (3)

|6-2-2 =Brendan Shanahan (2) – pp – 03:45
Brendan Shanahan – pp – 14:10
Sergei Fedorov (6) – pp – 18:23

|6-3-1 =No scoring

|6-3-2 =Brent Gilchrist (1) – 12:20

|goalie6-1 =Jimmy Waite 32 saves / 37 shots

|goalie6-2 =Chris Osgood 22 saves / 24 shots

|series = Detroit won series 4–2

}}

This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 1969 Stanley Cup Semifinals, where St. Louis won in a four-game sweep.

Game four was the last playoff game at the Great Western Forum.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Los Angeles Kings

|team2=St. Louis Blues

|stadium2=Great Western Forum

|stadium1=Kiel Center

|date1 =April 23

|score1 =3–8

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/lak-vs-stl/1998/04/23/1997030181#game=1997030181,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Craig Johnson (1) – 05:00

|1-1-2 =01:42 – Pavol Demitra (1)
04:42 – pp – Geoff Courtnall (1)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =05:46 – pp – Pierre Turgeon (1)
09:17 – Jim Campbell (1)
13:41 – pp – Jim Campbell (2)
15:12 – Pierre Turgeon (2)

|1-3-1 =Glen Murray (1) – 03:19
Luc Robitaille (1) – 07:05

|1-3-2 =00:16 – Brett Hull (1)
01:08 – Pavol Demitra (2)

|goalie1-1 =Stephane Fiset 22 saves / 27 shots
Jamie Storr 10 saves / 13 shots

|goalie1-2 =Grant Fuhr 24 saves / 27 shots

|date2 =April 25

|score2 =1–2

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/lak-vs-stl/1998/04/25/1997030182#game=1997030182,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =Glen Murray (2) – 07:49

|2-2-2 =01:43 – Chris Pronger (1)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =11:37 – pp – Jim Campbell (3)

|goalie2-1 =Jamie Storr 25 saves / 27 shots

|goalie2-2 =Grant Fuhr 26 saves / 27 shots

|date3 =April 27

|score3 =4–3

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/stl-vs-lak/1998/04/27/1997030183#game=1997030183,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =11:01 – Ian Laperriere (1)
19:51 – pp – Yanic Perreault (1)

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =11:03 – Sean O'Donnell (1)

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =Pascal Rheaume (1) – pp – 09:59
Brett Hull (2) – pp – 11:03
Pierre Turgeon (3) – pp – 11:59
Terry Yake (1) – pp – 13:06

|goalie3-1 =Jamie Storr 33 saves / 37 shots

|goalie3-2 =Grant Fuhr 25 saves / 28 shots

|date4 =April 29

|score4 =2–1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/stl-vs-lak/1998/04/29/1997030184#game=1997030184,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =Pavol Demitra (3) – 08:05

|4-3-1 =08:00 – Jozef Stumpel (1)

|4-3-2 =Craig Conroy (1) – 03:22

|goalie4-1 =Stephane Fiset 32 saves / 34 shots

|goalie4-2 =Grant Fuhr 29 saves / 30 shots

|series = St. Louis won series 4–0

}}

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Ottawa Senators

|team2=Washington Capitals

|stadium2=Corel Centre

|stadium1=MCI Center

|date1 =May 7

|score1 =2–4

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-wsh/1998/05/07/1997030211#game=1997030211,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Daniel Alfredsson (4) – sh – 12:21

|1-1-2 =13:17 – Richard Zednik (2)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =04:03 – Adam Oates (4)

|1-3-1 =Andreas Dackell (1) – pp – 07:12

|1-3-2 =02:39 – Peter Bondra (1)
04:25 – Brian Bellows (3)

|goalie1-1 =Damian Rhodes 12 saves / 16 shots
Ron Tugnutt 7 saves / 7 shots

|goalie1-2 =Olaf Kolzig 36 saves / 38 shots

|date2 =May 9

|score2 =1–6

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-wsh/1998/05/09/1997030212#game=1997030212,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =Alexei Yashin (4) – 10:50

|2-2-2 =09:46 – Brendan Witt (1)
11:14 – Joe Juneau (2)
14:59 – Joe Reekie (1)
18:58 – Richard Zednik (3)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =04:43 – pp – Brian Bellows (4)
15:18 – sh – Adam Oates (5)

|goalie2-1 =Ron Tugnutt 12 saves / 18 shots

|goalie2-2 =Olaf Kolzig 30 saves / 31 shots

|date3 =May 11

|score3 =3–4

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wsh-vs-ott/1998/05/11/1997030213#game=1997030213,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =5:24 – pp – Daniel Alfredsson (5)
08:17 – Daniel Alfredsson (6)
16:58 – Daniel Alfredsson (7)

|3-1-2 =Sergei Gonchar (5) – pp – 10:41

|3-2-1 =10:54 – pp – Alexei Yashin (5)

|3-2-2 =Peter Bondra (2) – pp – 01:08
Richard Zednik (4) – 13:49

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Damian Rhodes 14 saves / 17 shots

|goalie3-2 =Olaf Kolzig 30 saves / 34 shots

|date4 =May 13

|score4 =2–0

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wsh-vs-ott/1998/05/13/1997030214#game=1997030214,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =Sergei Gonchar (6) – sh – 18:30

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Mark Tinordi (1) – en – 19:55

|goalie4-1 =Damian Rhodes 9 saves / 10 shots

|goalie4-2 =Olaf Kolzig 36 saves / 36 shots

|date5 =May 15

|score5 =0–3

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-wsh/1998/05/15/1997030215#game=1997030215,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =No scoring

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =02:39 – Joe Juneau (3)

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =18:34 – pp – Sergei Gonchar (7)
19:42 – en – Calle Johansson (2)

|goalie5-1 =Damian Rhodes 18 saves / 20 shots

|goalie5-2 =Olaf Kolzig 29 saves / 29 shots

|series = Washington won series 4–1

}}

This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams; with Montreal winning four of the six previous series. They last met in the 1993 Adams Division Finals, where Montreal won in a four-game sweep.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Montreal Canadiens

|team2=Buffalo Sabres

|stadium2=Molson Centre

|stadium1=Marine Midland Arena

|date1 =May 8

|score1 =2–3

|ot1 =1

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-buf/1998/05/08/1997030221#game=1997030221,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =02:52 – Brian Holzinger (3)
09:02 – pp – Geoff Sanderson (1)

|1-2-1 =No scoinrg

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =Turner Stevenson (1) – 14:16
Vincent Damphousse (3) – 14:26

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|1-4-1 =No scoring

|1-4-2 =02:37 – Geoff Sanderson (2)

|goalie1-1 =Andy Moog 22 saves / 25 shots

|goalie1-2 =Dominik Hasek 46 saves / 48 shots

|date2 =May 10

|score2 =3–6

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-buf/1998/05/10/1997030222#game=1997030222,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Igor Ulanov (1) – 07:18

|2-1-2 =08:38 – Michal Grosek (5)

|2-2-1 =Vladimir Malakhov (2) – pp – 04:19
Mark Recchi (4) – 14:44

|2-2-2 =02:24 – pp – Donald Audette (3)
15:12 – Dixon Ward (3)
18:27 – Matthew Barnaby (2)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =00:13 – Matthew Barnaby (3)
19:11 – en – Matthew Barnaby (4)

|goalie2-1 =Andy Moog 16 saves / 21 shots
Jocelyn Thibault 3 saves / 3 shots

|goalie2-2 =Dominik Hasek 23 saves / 26 shots

|date3 =May 12

|score3 =5–4

|ot3 =2

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-mtl/1998/05/12/1997030223#game=1997030223,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =04:23 – Turner Stevenson (2)
12:16 – Turner Stevenson (3)

|3-1-2 =Curtis Brown (1) – pp – 04:46
Michael Peca (1) – 11:22
Vaclav Varada (2) – 19:12

|3-2-1 =04:21 – Saku Koivu (2)
16:30 – Vladimir Malakhov (3)

|3-2-2 =Geoff Sanderson (3) – 04:42

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|3-4-1 =No scoring

|3-4-2 =Michael Peca (2) – 01:24

|goalie3-1 =Jocelyn Thibault 9 saves / 13 shots
Jose Theodore 17 saves / 18 shots

|goalie3-2 =Dominik Hasek 42 saves / 46 shots

|date4 =May 14

|score4 =3–1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-mtl/1998/05/14/1997030224#game=1997030224,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =Matthew Barnaby (5) – pp – 04:53

|4-2-1 =13:31 – pp – Martin Rucinsky (4)

|4-2-2 =Donald Audette (4) – 08:41
Miroslav Satan (4) – pp – 10:31

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Andy Moog 8 saves / 11 shots
Jose Theodore 7 saves / 7 shots

|goalie4-2 =Dominik Hasek 37 saves / 38 shots

|series = Buffalo won series 4–0

}}

This was the second consecutive playoff meeting and the fourth overall playoff match-up between these two teams; with Edmonton winning two of the three previous series. Edmonton won last year's Western Conference Quarterfinals in seven games.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Edmonton Oilers

|team2=Dallas Stars

|stadium2=Edmonton Coliseum

|stadium1=Reunion Arena

|date1 =May 7

|score1 =1–3

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-dal/1998/05/07/1997030231#game=1997030231,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =03:14 – pp – Sergei Zubov (2)
08:22 – Sergei Zubov (3)

|1-2-1 =Valeri Zelepukin (1) – 10:34

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =03:32 – Mike Keane (3)

|goalie1-1 =Curtis Joseph 11 saves / 14 shots

|goalie1-2 =Ed Belfour 31 saves / 32 shots

|date2 =May 9

|score2 =2–0

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-dal/1998/05/09/1997030232#game=1997030232,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =Doug Weight (2) – pp – 16:06

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =Rem Murray (1) – en – 19:49

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Curtis Joseph 15 saves / 15 shots

|goalie2-2 =Ed Belfour 19 saves / 20 shots

|date3 =May 11

|score3 =1–0

|ot3 =1

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-edm/1998/05/11/1997030233#game=1997030233,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|3-4-1 =No scoring

|3-4-2 =Benoit Hogue (2) – 13:07

|goalie3-1 =Curtis Joseph 27 saves / 28 shots

|goalie3-2 =Ed Belfour 28 saves / 28 shots

|date4 =May 13

|score4 =3–1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-edm/1998/05/13/1997030234#game=1997030234,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =10:13 – Scott Fraser (1)

|4-1-2 =Guy Carbonneau (1) – 08:36

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =Benoit Hogue (3) – 13:52

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Benoit Hogue (4) – 11:45

|goalie4-1 =Curtis Joseph 33 saves / 36 shots

|goalie4-2 =Ed Belfour 23 saves / 24 shots

|date5 =May 16

|score5 =1–2

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/edm-vs-dal/1998/05/16/1997030235#game=1997030235,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =19:55 – pp – Derian Hatcher (3)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =No scoring

|5-3-1 =Bill Guerin (7) – 19:31

|5-3-2 =17:34 – Greg Adams (1)

|goalie5-1 =Curtis Joseph 24 saves / 25 shots

|goalie5-2 =Ed Belfour 18 saves / 19 shots

|series = Dallas won series 4–1

}}

This was the third consecutive playoff meeting and the sixth overall playoff match-up between these two teams; with Detroit winning three of the five previous series. Detroit won last year's Western Conference Quarterfinals in six games.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=St. Louis Blues

|team2=Detroit Red Wings

|stadium2=Kiel Center

|stadium1=Joe Louis Arena

|date1 =May 8

|score1 =4–2

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/stl-vs-det/1998/05/08/1997030241#game=1997030241,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Todd Gill (1) – sh – 03:55

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =14:33 – Martin Lapointe (1)

|1-3-1 =Jim Campbell (4) – pp – 00:18
Brett Hull (3) – 03:48
Jim Campbell (5) – 10:28

|1-3-2 =16:46 – pp – Tomas Holmstrom (2)

|goalie1-1 =Grant Fuhr 27 saves / 29 shots

|goalie1-2 =Chris Osgood 25 saves / 29 shots

|date2 =May 10

|score2 =1–6

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/stl-vs-det/1998/05/10/1997030242#game=1997030242,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Terry Yake – pp – 09:29

|2-1-2 =17:13 – pp – Martin Lapointe (2)

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =09:01 – Nicklas Lidstrom (3)
12:29 – Tomas Holmstrom (3)
18:47 – Steve Yzerman (2)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =18:51 – sh-en – Larry Murphy (1)
19:33 – Kirk Maltby (2)

|goalie2-1 =Grant Fuhr 28 saves / 33 shots

|goalie2-2 =Chris Osgood 24 saves / 25 shots

|date3 =May 12

|score3 =3–2

|ot3 =2

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-stl/1998/05/12/1997030243#game=1997030243,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =09:15 – pp – Al MacInnis (1)

|3-1-2 =Darren McCarty (2) – 03:10

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =Tomas Holmstrom (4) – 01:36

|3-3-1 =19:05 – Al MacInnis (2)

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|3-4-1 =No scoring

|3-4-2 =Brendan Shanahan (4) – 11:12

|goalie3-1 =Grant Fuhr 42 saves / 45 shots

|goalie3-2 =Chris Osgood 33 saves / 35 shots

|date4 =May 14

|score4 =5–2

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-stl/1998/05/14/1997030244#game=1997030244,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =Brendan Shanahan (5) – pp – 09:20

|4-2-1 =01:16 – Jim Campbell (6)
19:53 – Pierre Turgeon (4)

|4-2-2 =Joey Kocur (3) – 00:54

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Vyacheslav Kozlov (3) – 01:12
Sergei Fedorov (7) – sh – 08:05
Sergei Fedorov (8) – 19:14

|goalie4-1 =Chris Osgood 26 saves / 28 shots

|goalie4-2 =Grant Fuhr 19 saves / 23 shots

|date5 =May 17

|score5 =3–1

|won5 =1

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/stl-vs-det/1998/05/17/1997030245#game=1997030245,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =No scoring

|5-1-2 =No scoring

|5-2-1 =Geoff Courtnall (2) – 01:44
Mike Eastwood (1) – 02:58
Todd Gill (2) – pp – 09:21

|5-2-2 =11:03 – sh – Martin Lapointe (3)

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie5-1 =Grant Fuhr 29 saves / 30 shots

|goalie5-2 =Chris Osgood 20 saves / 23 shots
Kevin Hodson 0 saves / 0 shots

|date6 =May 19

|score6 =6–1

|won6 =2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-stl/1998/05/19/1997030246#game=1997030246,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =Darren McCarty (3) – 12:08
Doug Brown (1) – pp – 14:29

|6-2-1 =No scoring

|6-2-2 =Martin Lapointe (4) – pp – 05:03
Martin Lapointe (5) – 07:56

|6-3-1 =14:35 – pp – Jim Campbell (7)

|6-3-2 =Tomas Holmstrom (5) – 05:53
Steve Yzerman (3) – pp – 09:40

|goalie6-1 =Grant Fuhr 20 saves / 25 shots
Jamie McLennan 3 saves / 4 shots

|goalie6-2 =Chris Osgood 30 saves / 31 shots

|series = Detroit won series 4–2

}}

{{See also|NHL conference finals}}

This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Washington made their second Conference Finals appearance; they last made it to the Conference Finals in 1990 where they lost to the Boston Bruins in a four-game sweep. This was the first conference final for Buffalo since the playoffs went to a conference format starting in 1982. Buffalo last played a semifinal series in 1980 where they lost to the New York Islanders in six games. These teams split their four-game regular season series.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Buffalo Sabres

|team2=Washington Capitals

|stadium2=Marine Midland Arena

|stadium1=MCI Center

|date1 =May 23

|score1 =2–0

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-wsh/1998/05/23/1997030311#game=1997030311,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =Michal Grosek (6) – 00:31
Miroslav Satan (5) – 01:55

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Dominik Hasek 19 saves / 19 shots

|goalie1-2 =Olaf Kolzig 18 saves / 20 shots

|date2 =May 25

|score2 =2–3

|ot2 =1

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-wsh/1998/05/25/1997030312#game=1997030312,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =Vaclav Varada (3) – 19:02

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =19:55 – pp – Peter Bondra (3)

|2-3-1 =Matthew Barnaby (6) – pp – 19:03

|2-3-2 =14:06 – Joe Juneau (4)

|2-4-1 =No scoring

|2-4-2 =03:01 – Todd Krygier (1)

|goalie2-1 =Dominik Hasek 36 saves / 39 shots

|goalie2-2 =Olaf Kolzig 31 saves / 33 shots

|date3 =May 28

|score3 =4–3

|ot3 =1

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wsh-vs-buf/1998/05/28/1997030313#game=1997030313,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =14:59 – pp – Donald Audette (5)

|3-1-2 =Peter Bondra (4) – 04:57
Richard Zednik (5) – pp – 10:27

|3-2-1 =02:08 – Matthew Barnaby (7)
12:12 – Brian Holzinger (4)

|3-2-2 =Richard Zednik (6) – pp – 16:17

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|3-4-1 =No scoring

|3-4-2 =Peter Bondra (5) – 09:37

|goalie3-1 =Dominik Hasek 26 saves / 30 shots

|goalie3-2 =Olaf Kolzig 27 saves / 30 shots

|date4 =May 30

|score4 =2–0

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wsh-vs-buf/1998/05/30/1997030314#game=1997030314,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =No scoring

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Craig Berube (1) – 02:34
Joe Juneau (5) – sh – 13:38

|goalie4-1 =Dominik Hasek 17 saves / 19 shots

|goalie4-2 =Olaf Kolzig 30 saves / 30 shots

|date5 =June 2

|score5 =2–1

|won5 =1

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-wsh/1998/06/02/1997030315#game=1997030315,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =Darryl Shannon (2) – 06:33

|5-1-2 =16:29 – pp – Andrei Nikolishin (1)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =No scoring

|5-3-1 =Jason Woolley (2) – 15:34

|5-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie5-1 =Dominik Hasek 34 saves / 35 shots

|goalie5-2 =Olaf Kolzig 14 saves / 16 shots

|date6 =June 4

|score6 =3–2

|ot6 =1

|won6 =2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wsh-vs-buf/1998/06/04/1997030316#game=1997030316,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =13:04 – Michael Peca (3)

|6-2-2 =Esa Tikkanen (3) – 13:26

|6-3-1 =07:40 – Paul Kruse (1)

|6-3-2 =Peter Bondra (6) – pp – 14:01

|6-4-1 =No scoring

|6-4-2 =Joe Juneau (6) – 06:24

|goalie6-1 =Dominik Hasek 35 saves / 38 shots

|goalie6-2 =Olaf Kolzig 39 saves / 41 shots

|series = Washington won series 4–2

}}

This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams; with Detroit winning both previous series. They last met in the 1995 Western Conference Quarterfinals, where Detroit won in five games. Dallas made their third appearance in the Conference Finals. They last made it to the Conference Finals in 1991, where the Minnesota North Stars defeated the Edmonton Oilers in five games. Detroit made their fourth consecutive and sixth overall appearance in the Conference Finals; they defeated the Colorado Avalanche in the previous year in six games. Detroit won this year's five-game regular season series earning eight of ten points.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Detroit Red Wings

|team2=Dallas Stars

|stadium2=Joe Louis Arena

|stadium1=Reunion Arena

|date1 =May 24

|score1 =2–0

|won1 =1

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-dal/1998/05/24/1997030321#game=1997030321,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =Vyacheslav Kozlov (4) – pp – 00:57
Martin Lapointe (6) – 13:38

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Chris Osgood 14 saves / 14 shots

|goalie1-2 =Ed Belfour 21 saves / 23 shots

|date2 =May 26

|score2 =1–3

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-dal/1998/05/26/1997030322#game=1997030322,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =05:56 – Bob Bassen (1)

|2-2-1 =Vyacheslav Kozlov (5) – 12:59

|2-2-2 =11:12 – Greg Adams (2)

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =19:50 – en – Guy Carbonneau (2)

|goalie2-1 =Chris Osgood 20 saves / 22 shots

|goalie2-2 =Ed Belfour 27 saves / 28 shots

|date3 =May 29

|score3 =3–5

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-det/1998/05/29/1997030323#game=1997030323,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =05:50 – Brent Gilchrist (2)
12:43 – pp – Nicklas Lidstrom (4)

|3-1-2 =No scoring

|3-2-1 =04:13 – Nicklas Lidstrom (5)
05:33 – Jamie Macoun (2)

|3-2-2 =Jere Lehtinen (2) – 13:13

|3-3-1 =15:55 – Martin Lapointe (7)

|3-3-2 =Jere Lehtinen (3) – 04:39
Mike Modano (4) – 07:34

|goalie3-1 =Chris Osgood 31 saves / 34 shots

|goalie3-2 =Ed Belfour 15 saves / 20 shots

|date4 =May 31

|score4 =2–3

|won4 =1

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-det/1998/05/31/1997030324#game=1997030324,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =07:02 – sh – Kirk Maltby (3)
12:10 – pp – Steve Yzerman (4)

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =Pat Verbeek (3) – 14:31

|4-3-1 =11:30 – Vyacheslav Kozlov (6)

|4-3-2 =Sergei Zubov (4) – pp – 00:55

|goalie4-1 =Chris Osgood 28 saves / 30 shots

|goalie4-2 =Ed Belfour 20 saves / 23 shots

|date5 =June 3

|score5 =2–3

|ot5 =1

|won5 =2

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-dal/1998/06/03/1997030325#game=1997030325,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =Tomas Holmstrom (6) – pp – 19:17

|5-1-2 =14:16 – Mike Keane (4)

|5-2-1 =Igor Larionov (3) – 03:40

|5-2-2 =No scoring

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =18:35 – Guy Carbonneau (3)

|5-4-1 =No scoring

|5-4-2 =00:46 – Jamie Langenbrunner (1)

|goalie5-1 =Chris Osgood 33 saves / 36 shots

|goalie5-2 =Ed Belfour 18 saves / 20 shots

|date6 =June 5

|score6 =0–2

|won6 =1

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/dal-vs-det/1998/06/05/1997030326#game=1997030326,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =06:20 – sh – Larry Murphy (2)

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =01:48 – Sergei Fedorov (9)

|6-2-2 =No scoring

|6-3-1 =No scoring

|6-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie6-1 =Chris Osgood 26 saves / 26 shots

|goalie6-2 =Ed Belfour 29 saves / 31 shots

|series = Detroit won series 4–2

}}

{{main|1998 Stanley Cup Finals}}

This was the first and to date only playoff meeting between these two teams. Detroit made their twenty-first and second consecutive Finals appearance, while Washington made their first Finals appearance in their twenty-fourth season. Until 2017 this was the last time that the Stanley Cup was successfully defended by the previous year's champion. This remains the last time there was a sweep in the Finals.

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Washington Capitals

|team2=Detroit Red Wings

|stadium2=MCI Center

|stadium1=Joe Louis Arena

|date1 =June 9

|score1 =1–2

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wsh-vs-det/1998/06/09/1997030411#game=1997030411,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =14:04 – Joe Kocur (4)
16:18 – Nicklas Lidstrom (6)

|1-2-1 =Richard Zednik (7) – 15:57

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie1-1 =Olaf Kolzig 29 saves / 31 shots

|goalie1-2 =Chris Osgood 16 saves / 17 shots

|date2 =June 11

|score2 =4–5

|ot2 =1

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/wsh-vs-det/1998/06/11/1997030412#game=1997030412,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =07:49 – Steve Yzerman (5)

|2-2-1 =Peter Bondra (7) – 01:51
Chris Simon (1) – 06:11
Adam Oates (6) – 11:03

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =Joe Juneau (7) – pp – 07:05

|2-3-2 =06:37 – sh – Steve Yzerman (6)
08:08 – Martin Lapointe (8)
15:46 – Doug Brown (2)

|2-4-1 =No scoring

|2-4-2 =15:24 – Kris Draper (1)

|goalie2-1 =Olaf Kolzig 55 saves / 60 shots

|goalie2-2 =Chris Osgood 29 saves / 33 shots

|date3 =June 13

|score3 =2–1

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-wsh/1998/06/13/1997030413#game=1997030413,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =Tomas Holmstrom (7) – 00:35

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =10:35 – pp – Brian Bellows (5)

|3-3-2 =Sergei Fedorov (10) – 15:09

|goalie3-1 =Olaf Kolzig 32 saves / 34 shots

|goalie3-2 =Chris Osgood 17 saves / 18 shots

|date4 =June 16

|score4 =4–1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-wsh/1998/06/16/1997030414#game=1997030414,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =Doug Brown (3) – pp – 10:30

|4-2-1 =07:49 – Brian Bellows (6)

|4-2-2 =Martin Lapointe (9) – 02:26
Larry Murphy (3) – pp – 11:46

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Doug Brown (4) – pp – 01:32

|goalie4-1 =Olaf Kolzig 34 saves / 38 shots

|goalie4-2 =Chris Osgood 30 saves / 31 shots

|series = Detroit won series 4–0

}}

These are the top ten skaters based on points.[http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?reportType=season&seasonFrom=19971998&seasonTo=19971998&gameType=3&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=points,goals,assists NHL.com - Skater Stats]

This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage, with at least 420 minutes played. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded.[http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?report=goaliesummary&reportType=season&seasonFrom=19971998&seasonTo=19971998&gameType=3&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=goalsAgainstAverage NHL.com - Goalie Stats]

• 1997–98 NHL season

{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}

{{succession box |

before = 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs |

after = 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs |

title = Stanley Cup playoffs |

years = |

}}

{{s-end}}

{{1997–98 NHL season by team}}

{{Stanley Cup playoffs}}

Category:Stanley Cup playoffs

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