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NHL Game-Winning Goals Leaders: Washington Capitals
2019-20All situationsThrough 71 team games
John Carlson (WSH) and 
Jakub Vrana (WSH) lead NHL skaters with 6 GWG for the Washington Capitals in 2019-20, ahead of 
Tom Wilson (WSH) (5).
Leaders: Game-Winning Goals, Washington Capitals, 2019-20
- 1stJohn CarlsonWSH · 69 GP6
- 2ndJakub VranaWSH · 69 GP6
- 3rdTom WilsonWSH · 68 GP5
4thChandler StephensonVGK/WSH · 65 GP5
5thT.J. OshieWSH · 69 GP4
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 2019-20, 16 skaters qualify for this board; the median is 2 and John Carlson leads at 6.
Game-Winning Goals leaderboard
| # | Player | Team | GWG | GP | Per game | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John CarlsonDWSH | WSH | 6 | 69 | 0.09 | 15 | 98% |
| 2 | Jakub VranaFWSH | WSH | 6 | 69 | 0.09 | 25 | — |
| 3 | Tom WilsonFWSH | WSH | 5 | 68 | 0.07 | 21 | 93%▼1.1 |
| 4 | Chandler StephensonFVGK/WSH | VGK/WSH | 5 | 65 | 0.08 | 11 | 27%▲3.3 |
| 5 | T.J. OshieFWSH | WSH | 4 | 69 | 0.06 | 26 | — |
| 6 |  Alex OvechkinFWSH | WSH | 3 | 68 | 0.04 | 48 | 88%▼4 |
| 7 |  Ilya KovalchukFMTL/LAK/WSH | MTL/LAK/WSH | 3 | 46 | 0.07 | 10 | — |
| 8 |  Dmitry OrlovDWSH | WSH | 2 | 69 | 0.03 | 4 | 33%▲7.5 |
| 9 |  Carl HagelinFWSH | WSH | 2 | 58 | 0.03 | 8 | — |
| 10 |  Lars EllerFWSH | WSH | 1 | 69 | 0.01 | 16 | 4.9%▲0.8 |
| 11 |  Garnet HathawayFWSH | WSH | 1 | 66 | 0.02 | 9 | 5.8% |
| 12 |  Jonas SiegenthalerDWSH | WSH | 1 | 64 | 0.02 | 2 | 0.2%▼3 |
| 13 |  Radko GudasDWSH | WSH | 1 | 63 | 0.02 | 2 | 19%▼1.7 |
| 14 |  Brendan LeipsicFWSH | WSH | 1 | 61 | 0.02 | 3 | — |
| 15 |  Richard PanikFWSH | WSH | 1 | 59 | 0.02 | 9 | — |
| 16 |  Nic DowdFWSH | WSH | 1 | 56 | 0.02 | 7 | 3.2% |
Frequently asked questions
Who leads the NHL in Game-Winning Goals in 2019-20?
John Carlson leads with 6. The median of the 16 qualified skaters is 2.
Which defenseman leads in Game-Winning Goals in 2019-20?
John Carlson leads NHL defensemen with 6; the top forward is Jakub Vrana 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).