Franchise History

Standings by Year

As of:

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.

1995–96 Final Standings

1995–96 Game Results

Buffalo finished 20th in the league, 5th in the Northeast.

TeamGPWLTPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1p-Detroit Red Wings8262137131.799325181+144125W4
2y-Colorado Avalanche82472510104.634326240+86106L1
3y-Philadelphia Flyers82452413103.628282208+74106W3
4y-Pittsburgh Penguins8249294102.622362284+78102L1
5x-New York Rangers8241271496.585272237+3593L5
6x-Chicago Blackhawks8240281494.573273220+5399T1
7x-Florida Panthers8241311092.561254234+2089W1
8x-Boston Bruins8240311191.555282269+1386W1
9x-Montréal Canadiens8240321090.549265248+1787T1
10x-Washington Capitals8239321189.543234204+3093L2
11x-Tampa Bay Lightning8238321288.537238248-1079L1
12New Jersey Devils8237331286.524215202+1387L1
13x-Toronto Maple Leafs8234361280.488247252-580W1
14x-St. Louis Blues8232341680.488219248-2972T1
15x-Calgary Flames8234371179.482241240+182L1
16x-Vancouver Canucks8232351579.482278278082W1
17x-Winnipeg Jets (1979)823640678.476275291-1677L1
18Anaheim Ducks823539878.476234247-1378W2
19Hartford Whalers823439977.470237259-2275L1
20Buffalo Sabres823342773.445247262-1577W3
21Edmonton Oilers823044868.415240304-6463L5
22Dallas Stars8226421466.402227280-5365L2
23Los Angeles Kings8224401866.402256302-4669W1
24New York Islanders8222501054.329229315-8657T2
25San Jose Sharks822055747.287252357-10555L4
26Ottawa Senators821859541.250191291-10049W1

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.

Standings Over the Course of the Season

Buffalo in navy. Tap any team to compare.
through 82 GP
1st5th10th15th20th26th1020304050607082games playedBUF 20th