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NHL Game-Winning Goals Leaders: Pittsburgh Penguins
2017-18All situationsThrough 82 team games
Evgeni Malkin (PIT) leads NHL skaters with 7 GWG for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017-18, ahead of 
Sidney Crosby (PIT) (6).
Leaders: Game-Winning Goals, Pittsburgh Penguins, 2017-18
- 1stEvgeni MalkinPIT · 78 GP7
- 2ndSidney CrosbyPIT · 82 GP6
3rdPhil KesselPIT · 82 GP6
4thConor ShearyPIT · 79 GP4
5thOlli MaattaPIT · 82 GP3
The full ranked table, with filters, follows.
What Game-Winning Goals measures
This board ranks every NHL skater by game-winning goals, regular season only, listing players with at least one. Pick any season back to 2017-18 above the table. Goals that were the winning team's (loser's final score + 1)th goal, shootouts excluded.
Game-winning goals are goals plus timing luck: year-to-year correlation is weak (about 0.1 beyond what goals explain).
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. GWG mostly follows goals: the best scorers on the best teams pile them up. Season to season the total has almost no skill signal beyond goal scoring. In 2017-18, 21 skaters qualify for this board; the median is 1 and Evgeni Malkin leads at 7.
Game-Winning Goals leaderboard
| # | Player | Team | GWG | GP | Per game | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evgeni MalkinFPIT | PIT | 7 | 78 | 0.09 | 42 | 84%▼1 |
| 2 | Sidney CrosbyFPIT | PIT | 6 | 82 | 0.07 | 29 | 99% |
| 3 | Phil KesselFPIT | PIT | 6 | 82 | 0.07 | 34 | — |
| 4 | Conor ShearyFPIT | PIT | 4 | 79 | 0.05 | 18 | 0.1% |
| 5 | Olli MaattaDPIT | PIT | 3 | 82 | 0.04 | 7 | 0.2% |
| 6 |  Derick BrassardFOTT/PIT | OTT/PIT | 3 | 72 | 0.04 | 21 | — |
| 7 |  Bryan RustFPIT | PIT | 3 | 69 | 0.04 | 13 | 80%▼2.9 |
| 8 |  Carl HagelinFPIT | PIT | 2 | 81 | 0.02 | 10 | — |
| 9 |  Jake GuentzelFPIT | PIT | 1 | 82 | 0.01 | 22 | 100%▲0.5 |
| 10 |  Riley SheahanFPIT/DET | PIT/DET | 1 | 81 | 0.01 | 11 | — |
| 11 |  Brian DumoulinDPIT | PIT | 1 | 80 | 0.01 | 5 | 0.1% |
| 12 |  Kris LetangDPIT | PIT | 1 | 79 | 0.01 | 9 | 54%▼2.9 |
| 13 |  Ryan ReavesFPIT/VGK | PIT/VGK | 1 | 79 | 0.01 | 4 | 0.3% |
| 14 |  Patric HornqvistFPIT | PIT | 1 | 70 | 0.01 | 29 | — |
| 15 |  Tom KuhnhacklFPIT | PIT | 1 | 69 | 0.01 | 2 | — |
| 16 |  Jamie OleksiakDPIT/DAL | PIT/DAL | 1 | 68 | 0.01 | 5 | 12%▼1 |
| 17 |  Justin SchultzDPIT | PIT | 1 | 63 | 0.02 | 4 | — |
| 18 |  Matt HunwickDPIT | PIT | 1 | 42 | 0.02 | 4 | — |
| 19 |  Zachary Aston-ReeseFPIT | PIT | 1 | 16 | 0.06 | 4 | 0.0% |
| 20 |  Daniel SprongFPIT | PIT | 1 | 8 | 0.13 | 2 | — |
| 21 |  Jean-Sebastien DeaFPIT | PIT | 1 | 5 | 0.20 | 1 | — |
Frequently asked questions
Who leads the NHL in Game-Winning Goals in 2017-18?
Evgeni Malkin leads with 7. The median of the 21 qualified skaters is 1.
Which defenseman leads in Game-Winning Goals in 2017-18?
Olli Maatta leads NHL defensemen with 3; the top forward is Evgeni Malkin at 7.
How is Game-Winning Goals calculated?
Goals that were the winning team's (loser's final score + 1)th goal, shootouts excluded. Regular season only, from the NHL's official game data.
How reliable is Game-Winning Goals?
Game-winning goals are goals plus timing luck: year-to-year correlation is weak (about 0.1 beyond what goals explain).