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.

2017–18 Final Standings

2017–18 Game Results

Buffalo finished 31st in the league, 8th in the Atlantic.

TeamGPWLOTLPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1p-Nashville Predators82531811117.71326721167+56102W2
2x-Winnipeg Jets82522010114.69527721842+59101W5
3z-Tampa Bay Lightning8254235113.68929623662+6099OT1
4x-Boston Bruins82502012112.68327021433+56101L1
5y-Vegas Golden Knights8251247109.66527222843+4496L2
6y-Washington Capitals8249267105.64025923931+2088W1
7x-Toronto Maple Leafs8249267105.64027723272+4595W1
8x-Minnesota Wild82452611101.61625323233+2189W1
9x-Anaheim Ducks82442513101.61623521647+1990W5
10x-Pittsburgh Penguins8247296100.61027225022+2289W2
11x-San Jose Sharks82452710100.61025222953+2389L1
12x-Los Angeles Kings824529898.59823920321+3695L1
13x-Philadelphia Flyers8242261498.59825124327+886W2
14x-Columbus Blue Jackets824530797.59124223064+1286L1
15x-New Jersey Devils824429997.59124824454+483L1
16Florida Panthers824430896.58524824633+283W5
17x-Colorado Avalanche824330995.57925723721+2088W1
18St. Louis Blues824432694.57322622230+482L1
19Dallas Stars824232892.56123522543+1085W1
20Calgary Flames8237351084.51221824825-3072W1
21Carolina Hurricanes8236351183.50622825633-2872W1
22New York Islanders8235371080.48826429633-3273W3
23Edmonton Oilers823640678.47623426351-2971W2
24New York Rangers823439977.47023126835-3770L3
25Chicago Blackhawks8233391076.46322925612-2773L2
26Vancouver Canucks8231401173.44521826405-4668OT1
27Detroit Red Wings8230391373.44521725551-3867OT1
28Montréal Canadiens8229401371.43320926426-5564L1
29Arizona Coyotes8229411270.42720825625-4866L1
30Ottawa Senators8228431167.40922129127-7061L2
31Buffalo Sabres8225451262.37819928012-8155L4

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
1st5th10th15th20th25th31st1020304050607082games playedBUF 31st