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NHL Game-Winning Goals Leaders: Buffalo Sabres
2018-19All situationsThrough 82 team games
Jeff Skinner (BUF) leads NHL skaters with 6 GWG for the Buffalo Sabres in 2018-19, ahead of 
Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) (4).
Leaders: Game-Winning Goals, Buffalo Sabres, 2018-19
- 1stJeff SkinnerBUF · 82 GP6
- 2ndRasmus DahlinBUF · 82 GP4
3rdConor ShearyBUF · 78 GP3
4thJason PominvilleBUF · 73 GP3
5thBrandon MontourANA/BUF · 82 GP2
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 2018-19, 14 skaters qualify for this board; the median is 2 and Jeff Skinner leads at 6.
Game-Winning Goals leaderboard
| # | Player | Team | GWG | GP | Per game | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeff SkinnerFBUF | BUF | 6 | 82 | 0.07 | 40 | 0.1% |
| 2 | Rasmus DahlinDBUF | BUF | 4 | 82 | 0.05 | 9 | 99%▼0.5 |
| 3 | Conor ShearyFBUF | BUF | 3 | 78 | 0.04 | 14 | 0.1% |
| 4 | Jason PominvilleFBUF | BUF | 3 | 73 | 0.04 | 16 | — |
| 5 | Brandon MontourDANA/BUF | ANA/BUF | 2 | 82 | 0.02 | 8 | 85% |
| 6 |  Kyle OkposoFBUF | BUF | 2 | 78 | 0.03 | 14 | — |
| 7 |  Rasmus RistolainenDBUF | BUF | 2 | 78 | 0.03 | 5 | 7.4%▼0.8 |
| 8 |  Jack EichelFBUF | BUF | 2 | 77 | 0.03 | 28 | 100% |
| 9 |  Sam ReinhartFBUF | BUF | 1 | 82 | 0.01 | 22 | 99%▲1.7 |
| 10 |  Casey MittelstadtFBUF | BUF | 1 | 77 | 0.01 | 12 | 11%▼0.8 |
| 11 |  Evan RodriguesFBUF | BUF | 1 | 74 | 0.01 | 9 | 8.3%▲0.8 |
| 12 |  Marco ScandellaDBUF | BUF | 1 | 63 | 0.02 | 6 | — |
| 13 |  Nathan BeaulieuDBUF/WPG | BUF/WPG | 1 | 48 | 0.02 | 3 | — |
| 14 |  C.J. SmithFBUF | BUF | 1 | 11 | 0.09 | 2 | — |
Frequently asked questions
Who leads the NHL in Game-Winning Goals in 2018-19?
Jeff Skinner leads with 6. The median of the 14 qualified skaters is 2.
Which defenseman leads in Game-Winning Goals in 2018-19?
Rasmus Dahlin leads NHL defensemen with 4; the top forward is Jeff Skinner at 6.
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).