More skater stats
NHL Game-Winning Goals Leaders
2022-23All situationsThrough 82 team games
David Pastrnak (BOS) leads NHL skaters with 13 GWG in 2022-23, ahead of 
Connor McDavid (EDM) (11).
Leaders: Game-Winning Goals, 2022-23
- 1stDavid PastrnakBOS · 82 GP13Share
- 2ndConnor McDavidEDM · 82 GP11Share
3rdLeon DraisaitlEDM · 80 GP11Share
4thMark ScheifeleWPG · 81 GP10Share
5thSidney CrosbyPIT · 82 GP9Share
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 2022-23, 476 skaters qualify for this board; the median is 2 and David Pastrnak leads at 13.
Game-Winning Goals leaderboard
| # | Player | Team | GWG | GP | Per game | G | Pctl | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David PastrnakFBOS | BOS | 13 | 82 | 0.16 | 61 | 100 | 100% |
| 2 | Connor McDavidFEDM | EDM | 11 | 82 | 0.13 | 64 | 100 | 100% |
| 3 | Leon DraisaitlFEDM | EDM | 11 | 80 | 0.14 | 52 | 100 | 100% |
| 4 | Mark ScheifeleFWPG | WPG | 10 | 81 | 0.12 | 42 | 99 | 98%▼0.6 |
| 5 | Sidney CrosbyFPIT | PIT | 9 | 82 | 0.11 | 33 | 98 | 99% |
| 6 |  Brayden PointFTBL | TBL | 9 | 82 | 0.11 | 51 | 98 | 92%▼1.7 |
| 7 |  Mikko RantanenFCOL | COL | 9 | 82 | 0.11 | 55 | 98 | 99% |
| 8 |  Nico HischierFNJD | NJD | 9 | 81 | 0.11 | 31 | 98 | 95% |
| 9 |  John TavaresFTOR | TOR | 9 | 80 | 0.11 | 36 | 98 | 92%▼2.6 |
| 10 |  Sebastian AhoFCAR | CAR | 9 | 75 | 0.12 | 36 | 98 | 100% |
| 11 |  Alex TuchFBUF | BUF | 9 | 74 | 0.12 | 36 | 98 | 94% |
| 12 |  Nathan MacKinnonFCOL | COL | 9 | 71 | 0.13 | 42 | 98 | 100% |
| 13 |  Brock NelsonFNYI | NYI | 8 | 82 | 0.10 | 36 | 97 | 88%▲1.4 |
| 14 |  Kyle ConnorFWPG | WPG | 8 | 82 | 0.10 | 31 | 97 | 99% |
| 15 |  Auston MatthewsFTOR | TOR | 8 | 74 | 0.11 | 40 | 97 | 99% |
| 16 |  Dougie HamiltonDNJD | NJD | 7 | 82 | 0.09 | 22 | 96 | 82%▼0.9 |
| 17 |  Jason RobertsonFDAL | DAL | 7 | 82 | 0.09 | 46 | 96 | 99% |
| 18 |  Marcus JohanssonFWSH/MIN | WSH/MIN | 7 | 80 | 0.09 | 19 | 96 | 0.5% |
| 19 |  Patrice BergeronFBOS | BOS | 7 | 78 | 0.09 | 27 | 96 | — |
| 20 |  Tage ThompsonFBUF | BUF | 7 | 78 | 0.09 | 47 | 96 | 100% |
| 21 |  William CarrierFVGK | VGK | 7 | 56 | 0.13 | 16 | 96 | 17%▲10 |
| 22 |  Claude GirouxFOTT | OTT | 6 | 82 | 0.07 | 35 | 94 | 32%▲0.9 |
| 23 |  Adrian KempeFLAK | LAK | 6 | 82 | 0.07 | 41 | 94 | 95%▼0.9 |
| 24 |  Alex DeBrincatFOTT | OTT | 6 | 82 | 0.07 | 27 | 94 | 100%▲1 |
| 25 |  Brady TkachukFOTT | OTT | 6 | 82 | 0.07 | 35 | 94 | 100%▲1 |
Frequently asked questions
Who leads the NHL in Game-Winning Goals in 2022-23?
David Pastrnak leads with 13. The median of the 476 qualified skaters is 2.
Which defenseman leads in Game-Winning Goals in 2022-23?
Dougie Hamilton leads NHL defensemen with 7; the top forward is David Pastrnak at 13.
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).