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.
1988–89 Final Standings
1988–89 Game ResultsBuffalo finished 8th in the league, 3rd in the Adams.
Prince of Wales
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PTS ▾ | PTS% | GF | GA | SOW | SOL | DIFF | xPTS | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | z-Montréal Canadiens | 80 | 53 | 18 | 9 | 115 | .719 | 315 | 218 | – | – | +97 | 108 | T1 |
| 2 | y-Washington Capitals | 80 | 41 | 29 | 10 | 92 | .575 | 305 | 259 | – | – | +46 | 93 | L1 |
| 3 | x-Boston Bruins | 80 | 37 | 29 | 14 | 88 | .550 | 289 | 256 | – | – | +33 | 90 | W2 |
| 4 | x-Pittsburgh Penguins | 80 | 40 | 33 | 7 | 87 | .544 | 347 | 349 | – | – | -2 | 80 | W2 |
| 5 | x-Buffalo Sabres | 80 | 38 | 35 | 7 | 83 | .519 | 291 | 299 | – | – | -8 | 78 | W2 |
| 6 | x-New York Rangers | 80 | 37 | 35 | 8 | 82 | .512 | 310 | 307 | – | – | +3 | 81 | L5 |
| 7 | x-Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 36 | 36 | 8 | 80 | .500 | 307 | 285 | – | – | +22 | 86 | L1 |
| 8 | x-Hartford Whalers | 80 | 37 | 38 | 5 | 79 | .494 | 299 | 290 | – | – | +9 | 82 | L1 |
| 9 | New Jersey Devils | 80 | 27 | 41 | 12 | 66 | .412 | 281 | 325 | – | – | -44 | 68 | W1 |
| 10 | New York Islanders | 80 | 28 | 47 | 5 | 61 | .381 | 265 | 325 | – | – | -60 | 64 | W1 |
| 11 | Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 27 | 46 | 7 | 61 | .381 | 269 | 342 | – | – | -73 | 61 | L4 |
Clarence Campbell
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PTS ▾ | PTS% | GF | GA | SOW | SOL | DIFF | xPTS | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | p-Calgary Flames | 80 | 54 | 17 | 9 | 117 | .731 | 354 | 226 | – | – | +128 | 114 | W4 |
| 2 | x-Los Angeles Kings | 80 | 42 | 31 | 7 | 91 | .569 | 376 | 335 | – | – | +41 | 89 | W3 |
| 3 | x-Edmonton Oilers | 80 | 38 | 34 | 8 | 84 | .525 | 325 | 306 | – | – | +19 | 85 | L1 |
| 4 | y-Detroit Red Wings | 80 | 34 | 34 | 12 | 80 | .500 | 313 | 316 | – | – | -3 | 79 | L2 |
| 5 | x-St. Louis Blues | 80 | 33 | 35 | 12 | 78 | .487 | 275 | 285 | – | – | -10 | 77 | W4 |
| 6 | x-Vancouver Canucks | 80 | 33 | 39 | 8 | 74 | .463 | 251 | 253 | – | – | -2 | 79 | L3 |
| 7 | x-Minnesota North Stars | 80 | 27 | 37 | 16 | 70 | .438 | 258 | 278 | – | – | -20 | 74 | L1 |
| 8 | x-Chicago Blackhawks | 80 | 27 | 41 | 12 | 66 | .412 | 297 | 335 | – | – | -38 | 70 | W1 |
| 9 | Winnipeg Jets (1979) | 80 | 26 | 42 | 12 | 64 | .400 | 300 | 355 | – | – | -55 | 67 | W1 |
| 10 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 80 | 28 | 46 | 6 | 62 | .388 | 259 | 342 | – | – | -83 | 58 | L2 |
x - clinched playoff spot, y - clinched division, z - clinched conference, p - clinched Presidents' Trophy.
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.