This final would be a rematch from three years prior.
The Calgary Flames would square off again with the Montreal Canadiens for the Stanley Cup, looking to avenge their defeat in 1986.
It would be a meeting of the regular season’s top teams, the number one seeds from the formerly-named Campbell conference and Prince of Wales conference.
Montreal, led by rookie coach Pat Burns, had lost only three games in the three playoff series leading up to the final.
The Flames did not have as smooth a ride to the finals. Terry Crisp, in his second season as coach, and his team would battle Vancouver to seven games in the first round.
Flames fans will vividly recall Mike Vernon’s glove save off Stan Smyl, in overtime of game seven, which lead to Joel Otto’s winning goal.
The Flames would then crush Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings in a sweep, and take Chicago in five to get to the Cup final.
The series would be a defensive battle, with stellar goaltending coming from both Vernon and Montreal’s Patrick Roy. These longtime adversaries would split the first two games in Calgary, with the Flames winning game one 3-2 and Montreal taking the second game 4-2.
Moving to the hallowed Montreal Forum, Ryan Walter would score for the Canadiens at 18:08 of the second overtime, giving them a 4-3 game three win before the Flames won game four, 4-2.
The series returned to the Saddledome with the home team winning the fifth game 3-2.
Going back to the Habs' home turf, the Flames maintained a 3-2 advantage.
In the first period, Colin Patterson capitalized on a shot that was deflected off the Canadiens’ Chris Chelios, and snapped the puck past a surprised Roy at 18:51 of the first period.
Claude Lemieux responded for Montreal, at 1:23 of the second period, when his blast from just inside the blue line handcuffed Vernon and trickled over the goal line.
The Flames co-captain, Lanny MacDonald, scored his only goal of the playoffs in the second period at 4:24. Coming out of the penalty box and into a four man rush, MacDonald took a pass from Joe Nieuwendyk to beat Roy on the glove side.
Despite each allowing a soft goal, both goaltenders played at the All-Star level into the third period.
The turning point came for Calgary in the third period, when Russ Courtnall took a boarding after he ran Vernon over behind the net.
The Montreal bench rejected this penalty, arguing that Vernon was clearly away from his crease, and was therefore a fair and open target.
On the power-play, Doug Gilmour cashed his own rebound past a confused Roy, scoring at 11:02 in the third.
Pat Burns was seen clapping his hands after the goal, a sarcastic "thanks" to referee Denis Morel for his call against Courtnall.
Rick Green would respond for Montreal at 11:53 on a screen shot that clearly showed Lemieux interfere with Vernon.
An interesting event occurs at the 15:51 mark of the period.
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