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.

2025–26 Final Standings

2025–26 Game Results

Buffalo finished 4th in the league, 1st in the Atlantic.

TeamGPWLOTLPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1p-Colorado Avalanche82551611121.73830220346+99114W3
2z-Carolina Hurricanes8253227113.68929624054+5699W1
3x-Dallas Stars82502012112.68327922664+5399W5
4y-Buffalo Sabres8250239109.66528824151+4795OT1
5x-Tampa Bay Lightning8250266106.64629023142+59100L1
6x-Montréal Canadiens82482410106.64628325645+2791L1
7x-Minnesota Wild82462412104.63427224045+3293W1
8x-Boston Bruins82452710100.61027225043+2289W2
9x-Ottawa Senators8244271199.60427824631+3291W1
10x-Pittsburgh Penguins8241251698.598293268310+2592L3
11x-Philadelphia Flyers8243271298.598250243104+782W3
12Washington Capitals824330995.57926324426+1990W4
13y-Vegas Golden Knights8239261795.57926525018+1589W3
14x-Edmonton Oilers8241301193.56728226904+1387W1
15x-Utah Mammoth824333692.56126824000+2891L1
16Detroit Red Wings8241311092.56124125824-1777L1
17Columbus Blue Jackets8240301292.56125325372080L2
18x-Anaheim Ducks824333692.56127328880-1575W1
19New York Islanders824334591.55523324145-880L3
20x-Los Angeles Kings8235272090.54922524759-2276L1
21New Jersey Devils824237387.53023025441-2473L1
22St. Louis Blues8237331286.52423125814-2774W4
23Nashville Predators8238341086.52424726952-2274L2
24San Jose Sharks823935886.52425129222-4170W1
25Florida Panthers824038484.51225127652-2573W3
26Winnipeg Jets8235351282.50023126024-2973L4
27Seattle Kraken8234371179.48222626326-3771L3
28Toronto Maple Leafs8232361478.47625329914-4669L5
29Calgary Flames823439977.47021225943-4765W1
30New York Rangers823439977.47023825031-1277W1
31Chicago Blackhawks8229391472.43921327535-6262W1
32Vancouver Canucks822549858.35421631662-10051L1

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
1st5th10th15th20th25th32nd1020304050607082games playedBUF 4th