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.

2015–16 Final Standings

2015–16 Game Results

Buffalo finished 23rd in the league, 7th in the Atlantic.

TeamGPWLOTLPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1p-Washington Capitals8256188120.73225219342+59103L1
2z-Dallas Stars8250239109.66526723022+3794W2
3x-St. Louis Blues8249249107.65222420154+2391L1
4x-Pittsburgh Penguins8248268104.63424520344+4298L1
5x-Chicago Blackhawks8247269103.62823520912+2692OT2
6y-Anaheim Ducks82462511103.62821819234+2693W2
7y-Florida Panthers8247269103.62823920373+3694W1
8x-Los Angeles Kings8248286102.62222519523+3094OT1
9x-New York Rangers8246279101.61623621732+1989W1
10x-New York Islanders82452710100.61023221655+1688L1
11x-San Jose Sharks824630698.59824121043+3193W1
12x-Tampa Bay Lightning824631597.59122720133+2692L1
13x-Philadelphia Flyers8241271496.58521421838-482W2
14x-Nashville Predators8241271496.58522821542+1386L1
15x-Detroit Red Wings8241301193.56721122425-1378L2
16Boston Bruins824231993.56724023042+1085L1
17x-Minnesota Wild8238331187.53021620632+1086L5
18Carolina Hurricanes8235311686.52419822625-2872L2
19Ottawa Senators823835985.51823624766-1178W2
20New Jersey Devils823836884.51218420826-2473W1
21Colorado Avalanche823939482.50021624040-2472L6
22Montréal Canadiens823838682.50022123653-1576W2
23Buffalo Sabres8235361181.49420122227-2176W1
24Arizona Coyotes823539878.47620924511-3669L1
25Winnipeg Jets823539878.47621523933-2473W4
26Calgary Flames823540777.47023126023-2973W2
27Columbus Blue Jackets823440876.46321925264-3370W3
28Vancouver Canucks8231381375.45719124354-5262W1
29Edmonton Oilers823143870.42720324543-4266OT1
30Toronto Maple Leafs8229421169.42119824666-4864L1

x - clinched playoff spot, y - clinched division, z - clinched conference, p - clinched Presidents' Trophy.

Standings goals include the shootout deciding goal, one per shootout result, as every league standings page does. The rest of this site leaves it out, so the season pages read lower by each team's shootout record: GF minus SOW and GA minus SOL are the goals for and against on the Scores and Team Stats pages. DIFF follows the goals beside it, so it reads higher here than everywhere else on the site by a team's shootout wins less its shootout losses.

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, from goals excluding the shootout deciding goal (GF minus SOW, GA minus SOL), the same goals the rest of the site counts. 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 23rd