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.
2016–17 Final Standings
2016–17 Game ResultsBuffalo finished 26th in the league, 8th in the Atlantic.
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS ▾ | PTS% | GF | GA | SOW | SOL | DIFF | xPTS | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | p-Washington Capitals | 82 | 55 | 19 | 8 | 118 | .720 | 263 | 182 | 2 | 5 | +81 | 112 | L1 |
| 2 | x-Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 50 | 21 | 11 | 111 | .677 | 282 | 234 | 4 | 5 | +48 | 98 | L2 |
| 3 | z-Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 50 | 23 | 9 | 109 | .665 | 244 | 213 | 4 | 1 | +31 | 92 | OT1 |
| 4 | x-Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 50 | 24 | 8 | 108 | .659 | 249 | 195 | 2 | 2 | +54 | 102 | W1 |
| 5 | x-Minnesota Wild | 82 | 49 | 25 | 8 | 106 | .646 | 266 | 208 | 3 | 2 | +58 | 102 | W4 |
| 6 | y-Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 46 | 23 | 13 | 105 | .640 | 223 | 200 | 3 | 3 | +23 | 91 | W4 |
| 7 | y-Montréal Canadiens | 82 | 47 | 26 | 9 | 103 | .628 | 226 | 200 | 3 | 2 | +26 | 92 | W1 |
| 8 | x-Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 47 | 26 | 9 | 103 | .628 | 247 | 212 | 4 | 5 | +35 | 95 | W3 |
| 9 | x-New York Rangers | 82 | 48 | 28 | 6 | 102 | .622 | 256 | 220 | 3 | 4 | +36 | 95 | W1 |
| 10 | x-St. Louis Blues | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 99 | .604 | 235 | 218 | 2 | 2 | +17 | 88 | W3 |
| 11 | x-San Jose Sharks | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 99 | .604 | 221 | 201 | 2 | 1 | +20 | 89 | W1 |
| 12 | x-Ottawa Senators | 82 | 44 | 28 | 10 | 98 | .598 | 212 | 214 | 6 | 4 | -2 | 80 | L1 |
| 13 | x-Boston Bruins | 82 | 44 | 31 | 7 | 95 | .579 | 234 | 212 | 2 | 3 | +22 | 91 | L1 |
| 14 | x-Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 40 | 27 | 15 | 95 | .579 | 251 | 242 | 1 | 8 | +9 | 87 | L1 |
| 15 | x-Calgary Flames | 82 | 45 | 33 | 4 | 94 | .573 | 226 | 221 | 4 | 2 | +5 | 83 | L1 |
| 16 | x-Nashville Predators | 82 | 41 | 29 | 12 | 94 | .573 | 240 | 224 | 2 | 4 | +16 | 88 | L1 |
| 17 | New York Islanders | 82 | 41 | 29 | 12 | 94 | .573 | 241 | 242 | 2 | 4 | -1 | 82 | W6 |
| 18 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 42 | 30 | 10 | 94 | .573 | 234 | 227 | 4 | 3 | +7 | 84 | W3 |
| 19 | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 39 | 33 | 10 | 88 | .537 | 219 | 236 | 7 | 5 | -17 | 75 | OT1 |
| 20 | Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 40 | 35 | 7 | 87 | .530 | 249 | 256 | 3 | 1 | -7 | 79 | W7 |
| 21 | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 36 | 31 | 15 | 87 | .530 | 215 | 236 | 3 | 6 | -21 | 75 | W1 |
| 22 | Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 39 | 35 | 8 | 86 | .524 | 201 | 205 | 2 | 4 | -4 | 81 | OT1 |
| 23 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 35 | 36 | 11 | 81 | .494 | 210 | 237 | 5 | 6 | -27 | 72 | W2 |
| 24 | Dallas Stars | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 79 | .482 | 223 | 262 | 1 | 2 | -39 | 69 | W1 |
| 25 | Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 33 | 36 | 13 | 79 | .482 | 207 | 244 | 9 | 0 | -37 | 65 | W1 |
| 26 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 33 | 37 | 12 | 78 | .476 | 201 | 237 | 2 | 6 | -36 | 70 | L2 |
| 27 | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 28 | 40 | 14 | 70 | .427 | 183 | 244 | 3 | 3 | -61 | 59 | L3 |
| 28 | Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 30 | 42 | 10 | 70 | .427 | 197 | 260 | 6 | 2 | -63 | 58 | L1 |
| 29 | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 30 | 43 | 9 | 69 | .421 | 182 | 243 | 4 | 2 | -61 | 58 | L8 |
| 30 | Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 22 | 56 | 4 | 48 | .293 | 166 | 278 | 1 | 2 | -112 | 43 | L1 |
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.