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NHL Game-Winning Goals Leaders: Washington Capitals
2021-22All situationsThrough 82 team games
Tom Wilson (WSH), 
Alex Ovechkin (WSH) and 
Conor Sheary (WSH) lead NHL skaters with 5 GWG for the Washington Capitals in 2021-22, ahead of 
Evgeny Kuznetsov (WSH) (4).
Leaders: Game-Winning Goals, Washington Capitals, 2021-22
- 1stTom WilsonWSH · 78 GP5
- 2ndAlex OvechkinWSH · 77 GP5
- 3rdConor ShearyWSH · 71 GP5
- 4thEvgeny KuznetsovWSH · 79 GP4
5thDmitry OrlovWSH · 76 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 2021-22, 16 skaters qualify for this board; the median is 2 and Tom Wilson leads at 5.
Game-Winning Goals leaderboard
| # | Player | Team | GWG | GP | Per game | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom WilsonFWSH | WSH | 5 | 78 | 0.06 | 24 | 93%▼1.1 |
| 2 | Alex OvechkinFWSH | WSH | 5 | 77 | 0.06 | 50 | 88%▼4 |
| 3 | Conor ShearyFWSH | WSH | 5 | 71 | 0.07 | 19 | 0.1% |
| 4 | Evgeny KuznetsovFWSH | WSH | 4 | 79 | 0.05 | 24 | — |
| 5 | Dmitry OrlovDWSH | WSH | 4 | 76 | 0.05 | 12 | 33%▲7.5 |
| 6 |  Garnet HathawayFWSH | WSH | 4 | 76 | 0.05 | 14 | 5.8% |
| 7 |  Martin FehérváryDWSH | WSH | 2 | 79 | 0.03 | 8 | 24%▼0.9 |
| 8 |  John CarlsonDWSH | WSH | 2 | 78 | 0.03 | 17 | 98% |
| 9 |  Lars EllerFWSH | WSH | 2 | 72 | 0.03 | 13 | 4.9%▲0.8 |
| 10 |  Marcus JohanssonFSEA/WSH | SEA/WSH | 2 | 69 | 0.03 | 9 | 0.5% |
| 11 |  Nick JensenDWSH | WSH | 1 | 76 | 0.01 | 5 | 0.5%▲0.5 |
| 12 |  Justin SchultzDWSH | WSH | 1 | 74 | 0.01 | 4 | — |
| 13 |  Carl HagelinFWSH | WSH | 1 | 53 | 0.02 | 3 | — |
| 14 |  Nicklas BackstromFWSH | WSH | 1 | 47 | 0.02 | 6 | — |
| 15 |  T.J. OshieFWSH | WSH | 1 | 44 | 0.02 | 11 | — |
| 16 |  Johan LarssonFARI/WSH | ARI/WSH | 1 | 43 | 0.02 | 7 | — |
Frequently asked questions
Who leads the NHL in Game-Winning Goals in 2021-22?
Tom Wilson leads with 5. The median of the 16 qualified skaters is 2.
Which defenseman leads in Game-Winning Goals in 2021-22?
Dmitry Orlov leads NHL defensemen with 4; the top forward is Tom Wilson at 5.
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).