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.

2016–17 Final Standings

2016–17 Game Results

Buffalo finished 26th in the league, 8th in the Atlantic.

TeamGPWLOTLPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1p-Washington Capitals8255198118.72026318225+81112L1
2x-Pittsburgh Penguins82502111111.67728223445+4898L2
3z-Chicago Blackhawks8250239109.66524421341+3192OT1
4x-Columbus Blue Jackets8250248108.65924919522+54102W1
5x-Minnesota Wild8249258106.64626620832+58102W4
6y-Anaheim Ducks82462313105.64022320033+2391W4
7y-Montréal Canadiens8247269103.62822620032+2692W1
8x-Edmonton Oilers8247269103.62824721245+3595W3
9x-New York Rangers8248286102.62225622034+3695W1
10x-St. Louis Blues824629799.60423521822+1788W3
11x-San Jose Sharks824629799.60422120121+2089W1
12x-Ottawa Senators8244281098.59821221464-280L1
13x-Boston Bruins824431795.57923421223+2291L1
14x-Toronto Maple Leafs8240271595.57925124218+987L1
15x-Calgary Flames824533494.57322622142+583L1
16x-Nashville Predators8241291294.57324022424+1688L1
17New York Islanders8241291294.57324124224-182W6
18Tampa Bay Lightning8242301094.57323422743+784W3
19Philadelphia Flyers8239331088.53721923675-1775OT1
20Winnipeg Jets824035787.53024925631-779W7
21Carolina Hurricanes8236311587.53021523636-2175W1
22Los Angeles Kings823935886.52420120524-481OT1
23Florida Panthers8235361181.49421023756-2772W2
24Dallas Stars8234371179.48222326212-3969W1
25Detroit Red Wings8233361379.48220724490-3765W1
26Buffalo Sabres8233371278.47620123726-3670L2
27New Jersey Devils8228401470.42718324433-6159L3
28Arizona Coyotes8230421070.42719726062-6358L1
29Vancouver Canucks823043969.42118224342-6158L8
30Colorado Avalanche822256448.29316627812-11243L1

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 26th