1988 Stanley Cup playoffs

The 1988 Stanley Cup playoffs, the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL), began on April 6, after the conclusion of the 1987–88 NHL season. It concluded on May 26, with the defending champion Edmonton Oilers defeating the Boston Bruins to win their second straight Stanley Cup and fourth in five years.

The Presidents' Trophy winning Calgary Flames had home ice advantage during the playoffs thanks in part to Edmonton's struggles without Wayne Gretzky, who missed 16 games due to injury. The Oilers, who had won the Cup in three of the previous four seasons, were still thought to have a good chance at repeating with Gretzky's return. The clash between the Flames and Oilers in the Smythe Division Final was highly anticipated.

The New Jersey Devils made the playoffs for the first time since their move from Denver, winning in overtime at Chicago Stadium on the season's final day to edge the New York Rangers for the Patrick Division's fourth spot. This was only the second time they made the playoffs including their Colorado and Kansas City days.

The 1988 playoffs most notable moment was the cancellation of game four of the finals in Boston after fog issues, a result of high heat and the subsequent building power outage resulted in the game being canceled outright with the result not counting, yet the league retained player stats from the game. The series would move directly on to Edmonton. Gretzky would go on to set NHL playoff records with 31 assists in 18 games and 13 points in the Stanley Cup Finals. Since the expansion of each playoff round to seven games in 1987, Edmonton holds the record for needing the fewest playoff games (18) to win the Stanley Cup.