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.
1998–99 Final Standings
1998–99 Game ResultsBuffalo finished 9th in the league, 4th in the Northeast.
Eastern
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PTS ▾ | PTS% | GF | GA | SOW | SOL | DIFF | xPTS | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | z-New Jersey Devils | 82 | 47 | 24 | 11 | 105 | .640 | 248 | 196 | – | – | +52 | 101 | W3 |
| 2 | y-Ottawa Senators | 82 | 44 | 23 | 15 | 103 | .628 | 239 | 179 | – | – | +60 | 105 | T2 |
| 3 | x-Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 45 | 30 | 7 | 97 | .591 | 268 | 231 | – | – | +37 | 94 | L1 |
| 4 | x-Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 37 | 26 | 19 | 93 | .567 | 231 | 196 | – | – | +35 | 95 | W1 |
| 5 | x-Boston Bruins | 82 | 39 | 30 | 13 | 91 | .555 | 214 | 181 | – | – | +33 | 96 | L1 |
| 6 | x-Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 37 | 28 | 17 | 91 | .555 | 207 | 175 | – | – | +32 | 96 | W1 |
| 7 | x-Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 38 | 30 | 14 | 90 | .549 | 242 | 225 | – | – | +17 | 88 | W1 |
| 8 | y-Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 34 | 30 | 18 | 86 | .524 | 210 | 202 | – | – | +8 | 85 | T2 |
| 9 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 30 | 34 | 18 | 78 | .476 | 210 | 228 | – | – | -18 | 75 | W3 |
| 10 | New York Rangers | 82 | 33 | 38 | 11 | 77 | .470 | 217 | 227 | – | – | -10 | 78 | L1 |
| 11 | Montréal Canadiens | 82 | 32 | 39 | 11 | 75 | .457 | 184 | 209 | – | – | -25 | 72 | W1 |
| 12 | Washington Capitals | 82 | 31 | 45 | 6 | 68 | .415 | 200 | 218 | – | – | -18 | 75 | L6 |
| 13 | New York Islanders | 82 | 24 | 48 | 10 | 58 | .354 | 194 | 244 | – | – | -50 | 64 | W1 |
| 14 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 19 | 54 | 9 | 47 | .287 | 179 | 292 | – | – | -113 | 45 | L1 |
Western
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PTS ▾ | PTS% | GF | GA | SOW | SOL | DIFF | xPTS | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | p-Dallas Stars | 82 | 51 | 19 | 12 | 114 | .695 | 236 | 168 | – | – | +68 | 109 | L2 |
| 2 | y-Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 44 | 28 | 10 | 98 | .598 | 239 | 205 | – | – | +34 | 94 | W1 |
| 3 | y-Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 43 | 32 | 7 | 93 | .567 | 245 | 202 | – | – | +43 | 98 | L1 |
| 4 | x-Phoenix Coyotes | 82 | 39 | 31 | 12 | 90 | .549 | 205 | 197 | – | – | +8 | 85 | W1 |
| 5 | x-St. Louis Blues | 82 | 37 | 32 | 13 | 87 | .530 | 237 | 209 | – | – | +28 | 92 | W3 |
| 6 | x-Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 35 | 34 | 13 | 83 | .506 | 215 | 206 | – | – | +9 | 86 | T1 |
| 7 | x-San Jose Sharks | 82 | 31 | 33 | 18 | 80 | .488 | 196 | 191 | – | – | +5 | 84 | T1 |
| 8 | x-Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 33 | 37 | 12 | 78 | .476 | 230 | 226 | – | – | +4 | 83 | W3 |
| 9 | Calgary Flames | 82 | 30 | 40 | 12 | 72 | .439 | 211 | 234 | – | – | -23 | 74 | L1 |
| 10 | Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 29 | 41 | 12 | 70 | .427 | 202 | 248 | – | – | -46 | 65 | W6 |
| 11 | Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 32 | 45 | 5 | 69 | .421 | 189 | 222 | – | – | -33 | 69 | L1 |
| 12 | Nashville Predators | 82 | 28 | 47 | 7 | 63 | .384 | 190 | 261 | – | – | -71 | 57 | L4 |
| 13 | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 23 | 47 | 12 | 58 | .354 | 192 | 258 | – | – | -66 | 58 | L1 |
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.