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.

1983–84 Final Standings

1983–84 Game Results

Buffalo finished 4th in the league, 2nd in the Adams.

Prince of Wales

Adams

TeamGPWLTPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1x-Boston Bruins8049256104.650336261+75100W5
2x-Buffalo Sabres8048257103.644315257+5896W1
3x-Quebec Nordiques8042281094.588360278+82100W2
4x-Montréal Canadiens803540575.469286295-978L6
5Hartford Whalers8028421066.412288320-3272L1

Patrick

TeamGPWLTPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1y-New York Islanders8050264104.650357269+88102W4
2x-Washington Capitals8048275101.631308226+82104W1
3x-Philadelphia Flyers8044261098.613350290+6095L1
4x-New York Rangers804229993.581314304+1083W1
5New Jersey Devils801756741.256231350-11949L8
6Pittsburgh Penguins801658638.237254390-13648L6

Clarence Campbell

Smythe

TeamGPWLTPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1y-Edmonton Oilers8057185119.744446314+132107W3
2x-Calgary Flames8034321482.512311314-379L1
3x-Vancouver Canucks803239973.456306328-2274T1
4x-Winnipeg Jets (1979)8031381173.456340374-3472W2
5Los Angeles Kings8023441359.369309376-6764L1

Norris

TeamGPWLTPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1y-Minnesota North Stars8039311088.550345344+180L1
2x-St. Louis Blues803241771.444293316-2374L3
3x-Detroit Red Wings803142769.431298323-2574L2
4x-Chicago Blackhawks803042868.425277311-3471W2
5Toronto Maple Leafs802645961.381303387-8461L1

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

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. 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 80 GP
1st5th10th15th21st1020304050607080games playedBUF 4th