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.
1996–97 Final Standings
1996–97 Game ResultsBuffalo finished 6th in the league, 1st in the Northeast.
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PTS ▾ | PTS% | GF | GA | SOW | SOL | DIFF | xPTS | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | p-Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 49 | 24 | 9 | 107 | .652 | 277 | 205 | – | – | +72 | 106 | L1 |
| 2 | y-Dallas Stars | 82 | 48 | 26 | 8 | 104 | .634 | 252 | 198 | – | – | +54 | 101 | L2 |
| 3 | z-New Jersey Devils | 82 | 45 | 23 | 14 | 104 | .634 | 231 | 182 | – | – | +49 | 101 | L1 |
| 4 | x-Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 45 | 24 | 13 | 103 | .628 | 274 | 217 | – | – | +57 | 101 | W1 |
| 5 | x-Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 38 | 26 | 18 | 94 | .573 | 253 | 197 | – | – | +56 | 102 | L2 |
| 6 | y-Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 92 | .561 | 237 | 208 | – | – | +29 | 93 | L2 |
| 7 | x-Florida Panthers | 82 | 35 | 28 | 19 | 89 | .543 | 221 | 201 | – | – | +20 | 90 | W2 |
| 8 | x-New York Rangers | 82 | 38 | 34 | 10 | 86 | .524 | 258 | 231 | – | – | +27 | 91 | L1 |
| 9 | x-Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 36 | 33 | 13 | 85 | .518 | 245 | 233 | – | – | +12 | 86 | W3 |
| 10 | x-Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 38 | 36 | 8 | 84 | .512 | 285 | 280 | – | – | +5 | 83 | L3 |
| 11 | x-Phoenix Coyotes | 82 | 38 | 37 | 7 | 83 | .506 | 240 | 243 | – | – | -3 | 81 | W1 |
| 12 | x-St. Louis Blues | 82 | 36 | 35 | 11 | 83 | .506 | 236 | 239 | – | – | -3 | 81 | W3 |
| 13 | x-Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 36 | 37 | 9 | 81 | .494 | 252 | 247 | – | – | +5 | 84 | L2 |
| 14 | x-Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 34 | 35 | 13 | 81 | .494 | 223 | 210 | – | – | +13 | 87 | W2 |
| 15 | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 35 | 40 | 7 | 77 | .470 | 257 | 273 | – | – | -16 | 77 | W3 |
| 16 | x-Ottawa Senators | 82 | 31 | 36 | 15 | 77 | .470 | 226 | 234 | – | – | -8 | 79 | W3 |
| 17 | x-Montréal Canadiens | 82 | 31 | 36 | 15 | 77 | .470 | 249 | 276 | – | – | -27 | 74 | T1 |
| 18 | Washington Capitals | 82 | 33 | 40 | 9 | 75 | .457 | 214 | 231 | – | – | -17 | 76 | W3 |
| 19 | Hartford Whalers | 82 | 32 | 39 | 11 | 75 | .457 | 226 | 256 | – | – | -30 | 72 | W1 |
| 20 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 74 | .451 | 217 | 247 | – | – | -30 | 71 | L1 |
| 21 | Calgary Flames | 82 | 32 | 41 | 9 | 73 | .445 | 214 | 239 | – | – | -25 | 73 | L4 |
| 22 | New York Islanders | 82 | 29 | 41 | 12 | 70 | .427 | 240 | 250 | – | – | -10 | 79 | L1 |
| 23 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 30 | 44 | 8 | 68 | .415 | 230 | 273 | – | – | -43 | 68 | W1 |
| 24 | Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 28 | 43 | 11 | 67 | .409 | 214 | 268 | – | – | -54 | 64 | W2 |
| 25 | San Jose Sharks | 82 | 27 | 47 | 8 | 62 | .378 | 211 | 278 | – | – | -67 | 60 | L2 |
| 26 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 26 | 47 | 9 | 61 | .372 | 234 | 300 | – | – | -66 | 62 | W1 |
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.