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NHL Game-Winning Goals Leaders: Defensemen
2026-27All situationsThrough 3 team games
This board ranks defensemen only by game-winning goals.
The game-winning goal is the winning team's goal that put it one ahead of the loser's final total: in a 5-2 win, the third goal. Shootout winners do not count. For leagues that split positions: which defensemen add game-winning goals.
Leader in 2026-27: Shayne Gostisbehere (CAR), 1 GWG.
- Early sample: teams have played at most 3 games in 2026-27. Expect big swings.
Game-Winning Goals: defense leaderboard
Show
| # | Player | Team | GWG | GP | Per game | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shayne GostisbehereDCAR | CAR | 1 | 3 | 0.33 | 1 | 96%▲16 |
| 2 | Sean DurziDNYR | NYR | 1 | 3 | 0.33 | 1 | 38%▲36 |
| 3 | Elias PetterssonDVAN | VAN | 1 | 3 | 0.33 | 1 | 14%▲13 |
| 4 | Vince DunnDSEA | SEA | 1 | 2 | 0.50 | 1 | 89%▲12 |
| 5 | Alexandre CarrierDMTL | MTL | 1 | 2 | 0.50 | 1 | 14%▲12 |
| 6 | Quinn HughesDMIN | MIN | 1 | 2 | 0.50 | 1 | 100% |
| 7 | Luca CagnoniDSJS | SJS | 1 | 2 | 0.50 | 1 | 56%▲53 |
| 8 | Gustav ForslingDFLA | FLA | 1 | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | 42%▲18 |
How to read it
Goals that were the winning team's (loser's final score + 1)th goal, shootouts excluded.
How reliable is it?
Game-winning goals are goals plus timing luck: year-to-year correlation is weak (about 0.1 beyond what goals explain).
About our data sources →Projected next
Our fantasy projections for game-winning goals: who should lead the coming games.
Related leaderboards
- Game-Winning GoalsGoals that were the winning team's (loser's final score + 1)th goal, shootouts excluded.
- Game-Winning Goals: forwardsGoals that were the winning team's (loser's final score + 1)th goal, shootouts excluded.
- Game-Winning Goals per 60Game-Winning Goals per 60 minutes of ice time, all situations.
- GoalsTotal goals this season, all situations.