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.
2001–02 Final Standings
2001–02 Game ResultsBuffalo finished 20th in the league, 5th in the Northeast.
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | T | PTS ▾ | PTS% | GF | GA | SOW | SOL | DIFF | xPTS | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | p-Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 51 | 17 | 4 | 10 | 116 | .707 | 251 | 187 | – | – | +64 | 105 | L1 |
| 2 | z-Boston Bruins | 82 | 43 | 24 | 9 | 6 | 101 | .616 | 236 | 201 | – | – | +35 | 95 | W1 |
| 3 | x-Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 43 | 25 | 4 | 10 | 100 | .610 | 249 | 207 | – | – | +42 | 97 | W4 |
| 4 | y-Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 45 | 28 | 1 | 8 | 99 | .604 | 212 | 169 | – | – | +43 | 100 | T1 |
| 5 | y-San Jose Sharks | 82 | 44 | 27 | 3 | 8 | 99 | .604 | 248 | 199 | – | – | +49 | 100 | W1 |
| 6 | x-St. Louis Blues | 82 | 43 | 27 | 4 | 8 | 98 | .598 | 227 | 188 | – | – | +39 | 97 | W4 |
| 7 | y-Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 42 | 27 | 3 | 10 | 97 | .591 | 234 | 192 | – | – | +42 | 98 | L1 |
| 8 | x-New York Islanders | 82 | 42 | 28 | 4 | 8 | 96 | .585 | 239 | 220 | – | – | +19 | 89 | W3 |
| 9 | x-Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 41 | 27 | 1 | 13 | 96 | .585 | 216 | 207 | – | – | +9 | 85 | W1 |
| 10 | x-New Jersey Devils | 82 | 41 | 28 | 4 | 9 | 95 | .579 | 205 | 187 | – | – | +18 | 90 | W6 |
| 11 | x-Phoenix Coyotes | 82 | 40 | 27 | 6 | 9 | 95 | .579 | 228 | 210 | – | – | +18 | 89 | W2 |
| 12 | x-Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 40 | 27 | 4 | 11 | 95 | .579 | 214 | 190 | – | – | +24 | 92 | W1 |
| 13 | x-Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 42 | 30 | 3 | 7 | 94 | .573 | 254 | 211 | – | – | +43 | 97 | W5 |
| 14 | x-Ottawa Senators | 82 | 39 | 27 | 7 | 9 | 94 | .573 | 243 | 208 | – | – | +35 | 95 | L1 |
| 15 | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 38 | 28 | 4 | 12 | 92 | .561 | 205 | 182 | – | – | +23 | 92 | W1 |
| 16 | y-Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 35 | 26 | 5 | 16 | 91 | .555 | 217 | 217 | – | – | 0 | 82 | T1 |
| 17 | Dallas Stars | 82 | 36 | 28 | 5 | 13 | 90 | .549 | 215 | 213 | – | – | +2 | 83 | T1 |
| 18 | x-Montréal Canadiens | 82 | 36 | 31 | 3 | 12 | 87 | .530 | 207 | 209 | – | – | -2 | 81 | L2 |
| 19 | Washington Capitals | 82 | 36 | 33 | 2 | 11 | 85 | .518 | 228 | 240 | – | – | -12 | 78 | OT1 |
| 20 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 35 | 35 | 1 | 11 | 82 | .500 | 213 | 200 | – | – | +13 | 87 | W1 |
| 21 | New York Rangers | 82 | 36 | 38 | 4 | 4 | 80 | .488 | 227 | 258 | – | – | -31 | 72 | L2 |
| 22 | Calgary Flames | 82 | 32 | 35 | 3 | 12 | 79 | .482 | 201 | 220 | – | – | -19 | 75 | L1 |
| 23 | Minnesota Wild | 82 | 26 | 35 | 9 | 12 | 73 | .445 | 195 | 238 | – | – | -43 | 66 | L2 |
| 24 | Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 29 | 42 | 3 | 8 | 69 | .421 | 175 | 198 | – | – | -23 | 72 | L2 |
| 25 | Nashville Predators | 82 | 28 | 41 | 0 | 13 | 69 | .421 | 196 | 230 | – | – | -34 | 69 | L3 |
| 26 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 28 | 41 | 5 | 8 | 69 | .421 | 198 | 249 | – | – | -51 | 64 | L2 |
| 27 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 27 | 40 | 4 | 11 | 69 | .421 | 178 | 219 | – | – | -41 | 65 | W1 |
| 28 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 22 | 44 | 6 | 10 | 60 | .366 | 180 | 250 | – | – | -70 | 56 | OT1 |
| 29 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 22 | 47 | 5 | 8 | 57 | .348 | 164 | 255 | – | – | -91 | 48 | L1 |
| 30 | Atlanta Thrashers | 82 | 19 | 47 | 5 | 11 | 54 | .329 | 187 | 288 | – | – | -101 | 49 | T1 |
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.