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.

2000–01 Final Standings

2000–01 Game Results

Buffalo finished 8th in the league, 2nd in the Northeast.

TeamGPWLOTLTPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1p-Colorado Avalanche825216410118.720270192+78109W1
2y-Detroit Red Wings82492049111.677253202+51100W2
3z-New Jersey Devils824819312111.677295195+100114W4
4y-Ottawa Senators82482149109.665274205+69105W2
5y-Dallas Stars82482428106.646241187+54102W2
6x-St. Louis Blues824322512103.628249195+54102W2
7x-Philadelphia Flyers824325311100.610240207+3394W2
8x-Buffalo Sabres8246301598.598218184+3496L1
9x-Pittsburgh Penguins8242283996.585281256+2590W1
10y-Washington Capitals82412741096.585233211+2290W1
11x-San Jose Sharks82402731295.579217192+2592W1
12x-Edmonton Oilers82392831293.567243222+2189W1
13x-Los Angeles Kings82382831392.561252228+2490W1
14x-Toronto Maple Leafs82372951190.549232207+2591L1
15x-Vancouver Canucks82362871190.549239238+182L1
16Phoenix Coyotes82352731790.549214212+283W1
17x-Carolina Hurricanes8238323988.537212225-1377L1
18Boston Bruins8236308888.537227249-2274W1
19Nashville Predators8234363980.488186200-1476L1
20Calgary Flames82273641573.445197236-3967L2
21New York Rangers8233431572.439250290-4070L1
22Chicago Blackhawks8229405871.433210246-3669OT1
23Columbus Blue Jackets8228396971.433190233-4365W1
24Montréal Canadiens8228406870.427206232-2672L1
25Minnesota Wild82253951368.415168210-4264L1
26Anaheim Ducks82254151166.402188245-5761L2
27Florida Panthers82223891366.402200246-4665W1
28Atlanta Thrashers82234521260.366211289-7857L2
29Tampa Bay Lightning8224475659.360201280-7956L1
30New York Islanders8221513752.317185268-8353L3

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
1st5th10th15th20th25th30th1020304050607082games playedBUF 8th