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.

Eastern

Atlantic

TeamGPWLOTLPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1z-Tampa Bay Lightning8254235113.68929623662+6099OT1
2x-Boston Bruins82502012112.68327021433+56101L1
3x-Toronto Maple Leafs8249267105.64027723272+4595W1
4Florida Panthers824430896.58524824633+283W5
5Detroit Red Wings8230391373.44521725551-3867OT1
6Montréal Canadiens8229401371.43320926426-5564L1
7Ottawa Senators8228431167.40922129127-7061L2
8Buffalo Sabres8225451262.37819928012-8155L4

Metropolitan

TeamGPWLOTLPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1y-Washington Capitals8249267105.64025923931+2088W1
2x-Pittsburgh Penguins8247296100.61027225022+2289W2
3x-Philadelphia Flyers8242261498.59825124327+886W2
4x-Columbus Blue Jackets824530797.59124223064+1286L1
5x-New Jersey Devils824429997.59124824454+483L1
6Carolina Hurricanes8236351183.50622825633-2872W1
7New York Islanders8235371080.48826429633-3273W3
8New York Rangers823439977.47023126835-3770L3

Western

Central

TeamGPWLOTLPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1p-Nashville Predators82531811117.71326721167+56102W2
2x-Winnipeg Jets82522010114.69527721842+59101W5
3x-Minnesota Wild82452611101.61625323233+2189W1
4x-Colorado Avalanche824330995.57925723721+2088W1
5St. Louis Blues824432694.57322622230+482L1
6Dallas Stars824232892.56123522543+1085W1
7Chicago Blackhawks8233391076.46322925612-2773L2

Pacific

TeamGPWLOTLPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1y-Vegas Golden Knights8251247109.66527222843+4496L2
2x-Anaheim Ducks82442513101.61623521647+1990W5
3x-San Jose Sharks82452710100.61025222953+2389L1
4x-Los Angeles Kings824529898.59823920321+3695L1
5Calgary Flames8237351084.51221824825-3072W1
6Edmonton Oilers823640678.47623426351-2971W2
7Vancouver Canucks8231401173.44521826405-4668OT1
8Arizona Coyotes8229411270.42720825625-4866L1

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