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.

1998–99 Final Standings

1998–99 Game Results

Buffalo finished 9th in the league, 4th in the Northeast.

TeamGPWLTPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1p-Dallas Stars82511912114.695236168+68109L2
2z-New Jersey Devils82472411105.640248196+52101W3
3y-Ottawa Senators82442315103.628239179+60105T2
4y-Colorado Avalanche8244281098.598239205+3494W1
5x-Toronto Maple Leafs824530797.591268231+3794L1
6y-Detroit Red Wings824332793.567245202+4398L1
7x-Philadelphia Flyers8237261993.567231196+3595W1
8x-Boston Bruins8239301391.555214181+3396L1
9x-Buffalo Sabres8237281791.555207175+3296W1
10x-Phoenix Coyotes8239311290.549205197+885W1
11x-Pittsburgh Penguins8238301490.549242225+1788W1
12x-St. Louis Blues8237321387.530237209+2892W3
13y-Carolina Hurricanes8234301886.524210202+885T2
14x-Anaheim Ducks8235341383.506215206+986T1
15x-San Jose Sharks8231331880.488196191+584T1
16x-Edmonton Oilers8233371278.476230226+483W3
17Florida Panthers8230341878.476210228-1875W3
18New York Rangers8233381177.470217227-1078L1
19Montréal Canadiens8232391175.457184209-2572W1
20Calgary Flames8230401272.439211234-2374L1
21Chicago Blackhawks8229411270.427202248-4665W6
22Los Angeles Kings823245569.421189222-3369L1
23Washington Capitals823145668.415200218-1875L6
24Nashville Predators822847763.384190261-7157L4
25New York Islanders8224481058.354194244-5064W1
26Vancouver Canucks8223471258.354192258-6658L1
27Tampa Bay Lightning821954947.287179292-11345L1

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
1st5th10th15th20th27th1020304050607082games playedBUF 9th