WHA game summary from January 8, 1978
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Birmingham Bulls (16-19-2) |
4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
 New England Whalers (25-11-3) |
1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 1: | BIR, | Steve Durbano 4, 6:53 |
| BIR, | Paul Henderson 14 (Dale Hoganson, Pete Marrin), 7:54 | |
| NE , | John McKenzie 14 (Dave Keon, Bryan Maxwell), 12:45 | |
| BIR, | Pete Marrin 14, 12:58 | |
| BIR, | Frank Mahovlich 8 (Mark Napier, Jim Turkiewicz), 17:12 | |
| 2: | NE , | Dave Keon 8 (Bill Butters, Alan Hangsleben), 2:02 |
| NE , | Mike Antonovich 18 (Dave Keon, John McKenzie), 9:11 | |
| BIR, | Dale Hoganson 1 (Pete Marrin), 19:23 | |
| 3: | NE , | Mike Rogers 14 (Gordie Howe, George Lyle), 8:16 |
Penalties:
| 1: | Phil Roberto, BIR 1:43 |
| Marty Howe, NE 15:27 | |
| 2: | Bill Butters, NE 4:23 |
| Dave Gorman, BIR 7:07 | |
| 3: | John Stewart, BIR 5:34 |
| Gordie Howe, NE 5:34 | |
| Dave Hanson, BIR 7:33 | |
| Ken Linseman, BIR 11:12 | |
| Gordie Roberts, NE 11:12 |
Penalty time: BIR: 10 minutes
NE : 8 minutes
| BIR Player Data | # | Pos | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- | Shots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pete Marrin | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Dale Hoganson | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Steve Durbano | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Frank Mahovlich | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Paul Henderson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Mark Napier | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Jim Turkiewicz | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| John Stewart | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ken Linseman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Phil Roberto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Dave Gorman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Dave Hanson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| TOTAL | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| TOTAL | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| NE Player Data | # | Pos | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- | Shots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Keon | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| John McKenzie | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Mike Rogers | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Mike Antonovich | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Gordie Howe | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Bill Butters | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Alan Hangsleben | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| George Lyle | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Bryan Maxwell | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Gordie Roberts | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Marty Howe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| TOTAL | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| TOTAL | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Shots: BIR: 14- 7-11-32
NE : 8-13- 6-27
Goalies: BIR: John Garrett (W, 11-11-1)
NE : Al Smith (L, 20-6-3)
Attendance: 8,774