1976–77 Buffalo Sabres season

The 1976–77 Buffalo Sabres season was the Sabres' seventh season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Sabres advanced to the second round of the playoffs before losing to the New York Islanders.

1976–77 Buffalo Sabres
Division	2nd Adams
Conference	3rd Wales
1976–77 record	48–24–8
Home record	28–7–5
Road record	18–14–8
Goals for	301
Goals against	220
Team information
General manager	Punch Imlach
Coach	Floyd Smith
Captain	Jim Schoenfeld
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
Average attendance	16,433
Team leaders
Goals	Gilbert Perreault (39)
Assists	Gilbert Perreault (56)
Points	Gilbert Perreault (95)
Penalty minutes	Jerry Korab (120)
Wins	Gerry Desjardins (31)
Goals against average	Don Edwards (2.51)

Regular season

Final standings

Adams Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Boston Bruins	80	49	23	8	312	240	106
Buffalo Sabres	80	48	24	8	301	220	104
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	33	32	15	301	285	81
Cleveland Barons	80	25	42	13	240	292	63

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

Adams Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Adams Division

1976–77 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	CLE	TOR	Total
Boston	—	3–3	5–1	3–2–1	11–6–1
Buffalo	3–3	—	5–1	5–0–1	13–4–1
Cleveland	1–5	1–5	—	2–4	4–14–0
Toronto	2–3–1	0–5–1	4–2	—	6–10–1

Vs. Norris Division

1976–77 NHL records
Team	DET	LAK	MTL	PIT	WSH	Total
Boston	4–1	2–2–1	3–2	3–1–1	4–0–1	16–6–3
Buffalo	4–1	3–2	2–2–1	0–4–1	4–1	13–10–2
Cleveland	2–3	1–2–2	0–5	0–3–2	5–0	8–13–4
Toronto	3–1–1	2–1–2	1–2–2	1–2–2	2–3	9–9–7

Vs. Patrick Division

1976–77 NHL records
Team	ATL	NYI	NYR	PHI	Total
Boston	2–2	1–2–1	4–0–1	1–3	8–7–2
Buffalo	2–1–1	1–3–1	4–0	2–2	9–6–2
Cleveland	2–1–1	0–3–1	0–3–1	1–3–1	3–10–4
Toronto	4–1	2–1–1	1–2–1	1–2–1	8–6–3

Vs. Smythe Division

1976–77 NHL records
Team	CHI	COL	MIN	STL	VAN	Total
Boston	4–0	3–1	1–2–1	2–1–1	4–0	14–4–2
Buffalo	3–1	3–0–1	2–1–1	2–2	3–0–1	13–4–3
Cleveland	3–1	2–1–1	1–1–2	2–1–1	2–1–1	10–5–5
Toronto	1–2–1	2–1–1	3–1	2–2	2–1–1	10–7–3

Schedule and results

1976–77 regular season
October Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 1 L October 9, 1976 0–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 0–1–0 2 W October 10, 1976 3–1 Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 1–1–0 3 L October 13, 1976 3–4 New York Islanders (1976–77) 1–2–0 4 W October 16, 1976 2–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 2–2–0 5 L October 17, 1976 5–6 Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 2–3–0 6 W October 20, 1976 4–0 Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 3–3–0 7 L October 23, 1976 2–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 3–4–0 8 W October 24, 1976 2–1 Washington Capitals (1976–77) 4–4–0 9 T October 27, 1976 4–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 4–4–1 10 W October 31, 1976 4–1 Boston Bruins (1976–77) 5–4–1
November Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 11 L November 1, 1976 2–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 5–5–1 12 W November 5, 1976 3–2 @ Washington Capitals (1976–77) 6–5–1 13 W November 7, 1976 5–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 7–5–1 14 W November 10, 1976 5–0 St. Louis Blues (1976–77) 8–5–1 15 W November 13, 1976 6–2 @ New York Rangers (1976–77) 9–5–1 16 T November 14, 1976 4–4 Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 9–5–2 17 W November 17, 1976 3–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 10–5–2 18 W November 20, 1976 4–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 11–5–2 19 T November 24, 1976 4–4 Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 11–5–3 20 L November 27, 1976 2–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1976–77) 11–6–3 21 W November 28, 1976 3–1 Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 12–6–3 22 W November 30, 1976 6–2 @ Boston Bruins (1976–77) 13–6–3
December Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 23 L December 4, 1976 0–3 @ New York Islanders (1976–77) 13–7–3 24 W December 5, 1976 5–3 Colorado Rockies (1976–77) 14–7–3 25 W December 8, 1976 5–1 @ Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 15–7–3 26 L December 9, 1976 1–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 15–8–3 27 W December 11, 1976 4–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 16–8–3 28 W December 14, 1976 6–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77) 17–8–3 29 W December 16, 1976 7–2 New York Rangers (1976–77) 18–8–3 30 W December 18, 1976 4–2 @ New York Islanders (1976–77) 19–8–3 31 W December 19, 1976 6–1 Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 20–8–3 32 W December 22, 1976 4–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 21–8–3 33 W December 23, 1976 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 22–8–3 34 W December 26, 1976 5–2 Washington Capitals (1976–77) 23–8–3 35 W December 29, 1976 6–3 @ Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 24–8–3
January Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 36 L January 1, 1977 3–6 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 24–9–3 37 T January 2, 1977 3–3 New York Islanders (1976–77) 24–9–4 38 L January 5, 1977 1–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 24–10–4 39 L January 6, 1977 2–9 Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 24–11–4 40 W January 8, 1977 4–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 25–11–4 41 W January 9, 1977 7–4 Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 26–11–4 42 W January 13, 1977 7–5 New York Rangers (1976–77) 27–11–4 43 L January 15, 1977 2–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 27–12–4 44 W January 16, 1977 3–0 Colorado Rockies (1976–77) 28–12–4 45 L January 19, 1977 2–4 Washington Capitals (1976–77) 28–13–4 46 L January 22, 1977 3–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 28–14–4 47 L January 23, 1977 0–3 Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 28–15–4 48 T January 27, 1977 1–1 Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 28–15–5 49 T January 29, 1977 3–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 28–15–6
February Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 50 L February 1, 1977 3–6 @ New York Islanders (1976–77) 28–16–6 51 W February 3, 1977 6–4 @ Colorado Rockies (1976–77) 29–16–6 52 L February 5, 1977 5–6 @ St. Louis Blues (1976–77) 29–17–6 53 W February 9, 1977 2–1 @ New York Rangers (1976–77) 30–17–6 54 W February 10, 1977 4–3 Boston Bruins (1976–77) 31–17–6 55 W February 13, 1977 6–2 Minnesota North Stars (1976–77) 32–17–6 56 W February 14, 1977 7–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 33–17–6 57 W February 16, 1977 3–0 Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 34–17–6 58 W February 19, 1977 2–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 35–17–6 59 L February 20, 1977 2–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 35–18–6 60 W February 23, 1977 5–3 @ Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 36–18–6 61 W February 24, 1977 2–0 Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77) 37–18–6 62 W February 26, 1977 6–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 38–18–6 63 L February 27, 1977 1–5 Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 38–19–6
March Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 64 W March 2, 1977 6–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77) 39–19–6 65 W March 3, 1977 7–2 Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 40–19–6 66 L March 5, 1977 1–3 @ Boston Bruins (1976–77) 40–20–6 67 W March 6, 1977 4–1 Montreal Canadiens (1976–77) 41–20–6 68 W March 9, 1977 6–3 Detroit Red Wings (1976–77) 42–20–6 69 L March 12, 1977 2–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77) 42–21–6 70 W March 13, 1977 6–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 43–21–6 71 W March 16, 1977 6–2 @ Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 44–21–6 72 L March 17, 1977 2–4 @ Boston Bruins (1976–77) 44–22–6 73 W March 20, 1977 6–2 @ Washington Capitals (1976–77) 45–22–6 74 W March 22, 1977 6–3 @ Atlanta Flames (1976–77) 46–22–6 75 W March 23, 1977 4–2 Cleveland Barons (1976–77) 47–22–6 76 T March 25, 1977 2–2 @ Colorado Rockies (1976–77) 47–22–7 77 L March 26, 1977 4–6 @ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77) 47–23–7 78 L March 30, 1977 3–4 Boston Bruins (1976–77) 47–24–7
April Game Result Date Score Opponent Record 79 T April 2, 1977 1–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77) 47–24–8 80 W April 3, 1977 7–3 St. Louis Blues (1976–77) 48–24–8
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

Preliminary round vs. Minnesota North Stars

Game 1 (11-Apr-77) Minnesota 2 Buffalo 4

Game 2 (13-Apr-77) Buffalo 7 Minnesota 1

Buffalo wins series 2-0

Quarterfinals vs. New York Islanders

Game 1: Buffalo 2 New York 4

Game 2: Buffalo 2 New York 4

Game 3: New York 4 Buffalo 3

Game 4: New York 4 Buffalo 3

New York wins series 4-0

Draft picks

Buffalo's draft picks at the 1976 NHL amateur draft held in Montreal.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	33	Joe Kowal	Canada	Hamilton Fincups (OMJHL)
4	69	Rocky Maze	Canada	Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
5	87	Ron Roscoe	Canada	Hamilton Fincups (OMJHL)
6	105	Don Lemieux	Canada	Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)

See also

• 1976–77 NHL season