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NHL Game-Winning Goals Leaders
2020-21All situationsThrough 56 team games
Auston Matthews (TOR) leads NHL skaters with 12 GWG in 2020-21, ahead of 
Connor McDavid (EDM) (11).
Leaders: Game-Winning Goals, 2020-21
- 1stAuston MatthewsTOR · 52 GP12Share
- 2ndConnor McDavidEDM · 56 GP11Share
3rdLeon DraisaitlEDM · 56 GP8Share
4thMark StoneVGK · 55 GP8Share
5thGabriel LandeskogCOL · 54 GP8Share
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 2020-21, 368 skaters qualify for this board; the median is 2 and Auston Matthews leads at 12.
Game-Winning Goals leaderboard
| # | Player | Team | GWG | GP | Per game | G | Pctl | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auston MatthewsFTOR | TOR | 12 | 52 | 0.23 | 41 | 100 | 99% |
| 2 | Connor McDavidFEDM | EDM | 11 | 56 | 0.20 | 33 | 100 | 100% |
| 3 | Leon DraisaitlFEDM | EDM | 8 | 56 | 0.14 | 31 | 99 | 100% |
| 4 | Mark StoneFVGK | VGK | 8 | 55 | 0.15 | 21 | 99 | 96%▲1.2 |
| 5 | Gabriel LandeskogFCOL | COL | 8 | 54 | 0.15 | 20 | 99 | 51%▲4.6 |
| 6 |  Mika ZibanejadFNYR | NYR | 7 | 56 | 0.13 | 24 | 98 | 98% |
| 7 |  Jake GuentzelFPIT | PIT | 7 | 56 | 0.13 | 23 | 98 | 100%▲0.5 |
| 8 |  Frank VatranoFFLA | FLA | 7 | 56 | 0.13 | 18 | 98 | 4.8%▼0.8 |
| 9 |  Sebastian AhoFCAR | CAR | 7 | 56 | 0.13 | 24 | 98 | 100% |
| 10 |  Mikko RantanenFCOL | COL | 7 | 52 | 0.13 | 30 | 98 | 99% |
| 11 |  Alex DeBrincatFCHI | CHI | 7 | 52 | 0.13 | 32 | 98 | 100%▲1 |
| 12 |  Jakub VranaFWSH/DET | WSH/DET | 7 | 50 | 0.14 | 19 | 98 | — |
| 13 |  Bryan RustFPIT | PIT | 6 | 56 | 0.11 | 22 | 96 | 80%▼2.9 |
| 14 |  Brayden PointFTBL | TBL | 6 | 56 | 0.11 | 23 | 96 | 92%▼1.7 |
| 15 |  Ondrej PalatFTBL | TBL | 6 | 55 | 0.11 | 15 | 96 | 0.1% |
| 16 |  Aleksander BarkovFFLA | FLA | 6 | 50 | 0.12 | 26 | 96 | 89%▼1.5 |
| 17 |  Max PaciorettyFVGK | VGK | 6 | 48 | 0.13 | 24 | 96 | — |
| 18 |  Alex OvechkinFWSH | WSH | 6 | 45 | 0.13 | 24 | 96 | 88%▼4 |
| 19 |  Johnny GaudreauFCGY | CGY | 5 | 56 | 0.09 | 19 | 93 | — |
| 20 |  Kyle ConnorFWPG | WPG | 5 | 56 | 0.09 | 26 | 93 | 99% |
| 21 |  Sidney CrosbyFPIT | PIT | 5 | 55 | 0.09 | 24 | 93 | 99% |
| 22 |  Mitch MarnerFTOR | TOR | 5 | 55 | 0.09 | 20 | 93 | 99% |
| 23 |  Sam ReinhartFBUF | BUF | 5 | 54 | 0.09 | 25 | 93 | 99%▲1.7 |
| 24 |  Brad MarchandFBOS | BOS | 5 | 53 | 0.09 | 29 | 93 | 65%▼2.8 |
| 25 |  Tyler ToffoliFMTL | MTL | 5 | 52 | 0.10 | 28 | 93 | 38%▲0.5 |
Frequently asked questions
Who leads the NHL in Game-Winning Goals in 2020-21?
Auston Matthews leads with 12. The median of the 368 qualified skaters is 2.
Which defenseman leads in Game-Winning Goals in 2020-21?
Jakob Chychrun leads NHL defensemen with 3; the top forward is Auston Matthews at 12.
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).