1985–86 Buffalo Sabres season

1985–86 Buffalo Sabres
Division	5th Adams
Conference	8th Wales
1985–86 record	37-37-6
Home record	TBD
Road record	TBD
Goals for	296
Goals against	291
Team information
General Manager	Scotty Bowman
Coach	Jim Schoenfeld Scotty Bowman
Captain	Gilbert Perreault
Alternate captains	Larry Playfair Lindy Ruff
Arena	Buffalo War Memorial Auditorium
Average attendance	TBD
Team leaders
Goals	Mike Foligno (41)
Assists	Dave Andreychuk (51)
Points	Dave Andreychuk (87)
Penalties in minutes	Mike Foligno (168)
Plus/minus	TBD
Wins	Tom Barrasso (29)
Goals against average	Jacques Cloutier (3.37)
<1984–85 1986–87>

The 1985–86 Buffalo Sabres season was the 16th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.^[1]

Regular season

Divisional standings

Adams Division

Team	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Quebec Nordiques	80	43	31	6	330	289	92
Montreal Canadiens	80	40	33	7	330	280	87
Boston Bruins	80	37	31	12	311	288	86
Hartford Whalers	80	40	36	4	332	302	84
Buffalo Sabres	80	37	37	6	296	291	80

^[2]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.

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 10, 1985	4–5	Hartford Whalers (1985–86)	0–1–0
2	W	October 12, 1985	6–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1985–86)	1–1–0
3	W	October 14, 1985	6–1	Detroit Red Wings (1985–86)	2–1–0
4	W	October 16, 1985	6–0	@ Montreal Canadiens (1985–86)	3–1–0
5	L	October 18, 1985	1–4	Washington Capitals (1985–86)	3–2–0
6	T	October 19, 1985	2–2 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1985–86)	3–2–1
7	L	October 23, 1985	4–5	Montreal Canadiens (1985–86)	3–3–1
8	W	October 25, 1985	5–4	Vancouver Canucks (1985–86)	4–3–1
9	W	October 27, 1985	3–2	Minnesota North Stars (1985–86)	5–3–1
10	L	October 30, 1985	2–4	@ Calgary Flames (1985–86)	5–4–1
11	W	November 1, 1985	2–0	@ Edmonton Oilers (1985–86)	6–4–1
12	L	November 2, 1985	2–6	@ Vancouver Canucks (1985–86)	6–5–1
13	W	November 6, 1985	7–3	Winnipeg Jets (1985–86)	7–5–1
14	W	November 8, 1985	5–4	St. Louis Blues (1985–86)	8–5–1
15	W	November 10, 1985	5–1	Calgary Flames (1985–86)	9–5–1
16	W	November 13, 1985	6–4	Boston Bruins (1985–86)	10–5–1
17	L	November 16, 1985	1–3	@ Quebec Nordiques (1985–86)	10–6–1
18	L	November 17, 1985	3–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1985–86)	10–7–1
19	W	November 19, 1985	2–0	@ Hartford Whalers (1985–86)	11–7–1
20	W	November 22, 1985	7–5	Quebec Nordiques (1985–86)	12–7–1
21	L	November 25, 1985	3–4	Minnesota North Stars (1985–86)	12–8–1
22	L	November 27, 1985	1–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1985–86)	12–9–1
23	L	November 29, 1985	2–5	Montreal Canadiens (1985–86)	12–10–1
24	L	November 30, 1985	2–3 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1985–86)	12–11–1
25	W	December 4, 1985	6–3	@ St. Louis Blues (1985–86)	13–11–1
26	L	December 6, 1985	1–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1985–86)	13–12–1
27	T	December 8, 1985	3–3 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1985–86)	13–12–2
28	L	December 10, 1985	3–7	@ Quebec Nordiques (1985–86)	13–13–2
29	L	December 13, 1985	4–6	Hartford Whalers (1985–86)	13–14–2
30	W	December 15, 1985	6–2	Quebec Nordiques (1985–86)	14–14–2
31	L	December 17, 1985	3–7	@ New York Islanders (1985–86)	14–15–2
32	W	December 18, 1985	5–4	@ New York Rangers (1985–86)	15–15–2
33	L	December 21, 1985	1–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1985–86)	15–16–2
34	W	December 22, 1985	5–3	Boston Bruins (1985–86)	16–16–2
35	W	December 26, 1985	6–1	New York Rangers (1985–86)	17–16–2
36	W	December 29, 1985	4–3	New York Islanders (1985–86)	18–16–2
37	T	December 31, 1985	6–6 OT	Boston Bruins (1985–86)	18–16–3
38	T	January 2, 1986	2–2 OT	@ Detroit Red Wings (1985–86)	18–16–4
39	L	January 4, 1986	0–4	@ Boston Bruins (1985–86)	18–17–4
40	L	January 5, 1986	2–3	Los Angeles Kings (1985–86)	18–18–4
41	W	January 10, 1986	9–7	Toronto Maple Leafs (1985–86)	19–18–4
42	T	January 11, 1986	3–3 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1985–86)	19–18–5
43	L	January 15, 1986	2–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1985–86)	19–19–5
44	W	January 17, 1986	5–4 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1985–86)	20–19–5
45	W	January 19, 1986	6–3	@ New Jersey Devils (1985–86)	21–19–5
46	W	January 22, 1986	6–3	Winnipeg Jets (1985–86)	22–19–5
47	L	January 24, 1986	3–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1985–86)	22–20–5
48	L	January 25, 1986	3–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1985–86)	22–21–5
49	L	January 27, 1986	1–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1985–86)	22–22–5
50	L	January 29, 1986	3–5	@ Winnipeg Jets (1985–86)	22–23–5
51	W	January 31, 1986	5–3	New York Rangers (1985–86)	23–23–5
52	W	February 2, 1986	5–3	Quebec Nordiques (1985–86)	24–23–5
53	W	February 6, 1986	8–6	@ Boston Bruins (1985–86)	25–23–5
54	W	February 8, 1986	4–2	@ Hartford Whalers (1985–86)	26–23–5
55	W	February 9, 1986	4–2	Edmonton Oilers (1985–86)	27–23–5
56	L	February 12, 1986	0–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1985–86)	27–24–5
57	T	February 14, 1986	3–3 OT	@ Calgary Flames (1985–86)	27–24–6
58	L	February 16, 1986	5–7	@ Edmonton Oilers (1985–86)	27–25–6
59	L	February 19, 1986	4–6	Hartford Whalers (1985–86)	27–26–6
60	W	February 21, 1986	5–1	New York Islanders (1985–86)	28–26–6
61	W	February 23, 1986	4–1	Washington Capitals (1985–86)	29–26–6
62	L	February 26, 1986	2–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1985–86)	29–27–6
63	L	February 28, 1986	2–6	Quebec Nordiques (1985–86)	29–28–6
64	W	March 1, 1986	8–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1985–86)	30–28–6
65	W	March 4, 1986	6–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1985–86)	31–28–6
66	L	March 5, 1986	1–5	@ Hartford Whalers (1985–86)	31–29–6
67	L	March 7, 1986	2–6	Hartford Whalers (1985–86)	31–30–6
68	W	March 9, 1986	4–3	New Jersey Devils (1985–86)	32–30–6
69	L	March 11, 1986	2–3 OT	@ St. Louis Blues (1985–86)	32–31–6
70	W	March 12, 1986	7–6	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1985–86)	33–31–6
71	L	March 15, 1986	3–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1985–86)	33–32–6
72	W	March 19, 1986	4–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1985–86)	34–32–6
73	L	March 21, 1986	3–6	New Jersey Devils (1985–86)	34–33–6
74	W	March 23, 1986	6–1	Los Angeles Kings (1985–86)	35–33–6
75	W	March 27, 1986	1–0	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1985–86)	36–33–6
76	L	March 29, 1986	1–2	@ Boston Bruins (1985–86)	36–34–6
77	L	March 30, 1986	3–5	Boston Bruins (1985–86)	36–35–6
78	L	April 1, 1986	3–5	@ Hartford Whalers (1985–86)	36–36–6
79	W	April 4, 1986	4–2	Montreal Canadiens (1985–86)	37–36–6
80	L	April 5, 1986	2–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1985–86)	37–37–6

Playoffs

The Sabres failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
Dave Andreychuk	80	36	51	87		61
Mike Foligno	79	41	39	80		168
John Tucker	75	31	34	65		39
Phil Housley	79	15	47	62		54
Gilbert Perreault	72	21	39	60		28
Lindy Ruff	54	20	12	32		158
Mike Ramsey	76	7	21	28		117
Steve Dykstra	64	4	21	25		108
Bill Hajt	58	1	16	17		25
Normand Lacombe	25	6	7	13		13

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	SO	SV%	GAA

Awards and records

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Player Former team Contract Terms

Player New team

Claimed from waivers

Player Former team Date claimed off waivers

Draft picks

Buffalo's picks at the 1985 NHL Entry Draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	14	Calle Johansson	(D)	Sweden	Västra Frölunda HC (Sweden)
2	35	Benoit Hogue	(LW)	Canada	St. Jean Beavers (QMJHL)
3	56	Keith Gretzky	(F)	Canada	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

Roster

1985-86 Buffalo Sabres Roster
Goaltenders 1 – Jacques Cloutier  30 – Tom Barrasso  35 – Daren Puppa  GM: Scotty Bowman Coach: Scotty Bowman and Jim Schoenfeld		Defensemen 3 – Hannu Virta  4 – Steve Dykstra  5 – Mike Ramsey  6 – Phil Housley  19 – Bob Halkidis  21 – Richie Dunn  22 – Lindy Ruff  24 – Bill Hajt  26 – Phil Russell  28 – Brian Engblom  31 – Joe Reekie  31 – David Fenyves  33 – Jim Hofford  - – Larry Playfair		Wingers 3 – Richard Hajdu  9 – Gilles Hamel  12 – Jody Gage  14 – Mikael Andersson  15 – Chris Langevin  16 – Ric Seiling  17 – Mike Foligno  18 – Paul Cyr  20 – Don Lever  23 – Gates Orlando  25 – Dave Andreychuk  26 – Pat Hughes  29 – Mal Davis  32 – Normand Lacombe  - – Sean McKenna		Centers 7 – John Tucker  11 – Gilbert Perreault  - C 15 – Doug Smith  28 – Paul Gardner  34 – Adam Creighton

References

• Sabres on Hockey Database

1. National Hockey League (2010). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011. Triumph Books. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-60078-422-4.
2. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.