Franchise History
Standings by Year
Final NHL standings as of the last day of the regular season, for any year on record. View by Division, Conference, or League, and track where Buffalo (and every other team) stood across a season with the trend chart below.
1978–79 Final Standings
1978–79 Game ResultsBuffalo finished 7th in the league, 2nd in the Adams.
Prince of Wales
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PTS ▾ | PTS% | GF | GA | SOW | SOL | DIFF | xPTS | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montréal Canadiens | 80 | 52 | 17 | 11 | 115 | .719 | 337 | 204 | – | – | +133 | 117 | L1 |
| 2 | Boston Bruins | 80 | 43 | 23 | 14 | 100 | .625 | 316 | 270 | – | – | +46 | 92 | W1 |
| 3 | Buffalo Sabres | 80 | 36 | 28 | 16 | 88 | .550 | 280 | 263 | – | – | +17 | 85 | T1 |
| 4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 36 | 31 | 13 | 85 | .531 | 281 | 279 | – | – | +2 | 81 | L1 |
| 5 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 80 | 34 | 33 | 13 | 81 | .506 | 267 | 252 | – | – | +15 | 85 | L1 |
| 6 | Los Angeles Kings | 80 | 34 | 34 | 12 | 80 | .500 | 292 | 286 | – | – | +6 | 82 | W1 |
| 7 | Minnesota North Stars | 80 | 28 | 40 | 12 | 68 | .425 | 257 | 289 | – | – | -32 | 71 | L1 |
| 8 | Washington Capitals | 80 | 24 | 41 | 15 | 63 | .394 | 273 | 338 | – | – | -65 | 63 | W1 |
| 9 | Detroit Red Wings | 80 | 23 | 41 | 16 | 62 | .388 | 252 | 295 | – | – | -43 | 67 | W1 |
Clarence Campbell
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PTS ▾ | PTS% | GF | GA | SOW | SOL | DIFF | xPTS | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York Islanders | 80 | 51 | 15 | 14 | 116 | .725 | 358 | 214 | – | – | +144 | 118 | W4 |
| 2 | Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 40 | 25 | 15 | 95 | .594 | 281 | 248 | – | – | +33 | 90 | W1 |
| 3 | New York Rangers | 80 | 40 | 29 | 11 | 91 | .569 | 316 | 292 | – | – | +24 | 86 | L2 |
| 4 | Atlanta Flames | 80 | 41 | 31 | 8 | 90 | .563 | 327 | 280 | – | – | +47 | 92 | L1 |
| 5 | Chicago Blackhawks | 80 | 29 | 36 | 15 | 73 | .456 | 244 | 277 | – | – | -33 | 70 | W1 |
| 6 | Vancouver Canucks | 80 | 25 | 42 | 13 | 63 | .394 | 217 | 291 | – | – | -74 | 57 | T1 |
| 7 | St. Louis Blues | 80 | 18 | 50 | 12 | 48 | .300 | 249 | 348 | – | – | -99 | 54 | L1 |
| 8 | Colorado Rockies | 80 | 15 | 53 | 12 | 42 | .263 | 210 | 331 | – | – | -121 | 46 | T2 |
xPTS is the points a team’s goals for and against project: the Pythagorean win estimate GF² / (GF² + GA²), scaled to points as win% × 2 × games played. It follows the current pace on any “as of” date. +/-xPTS is real points minus xPTS, after removing each team’s overtime-loss points. That step matters because xPTS splits a flat 2 points per game, while an overtime game pays out 3, so without it almost every team since 1999–00 reads as lucky. What is left is the points a team banked above or below its goal margin: positive means winning more of the close and overtime games than goal difference alone predicts.