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NHL Game-Winning Goals Leaders: Pittsburgh Penguins
2025-26All situationsThrough 82 team games
5 NHL skaters share the lead with 4 GWG for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2025-26.
Showing 2025-26 · 2026-27 becomes the default after ~10 games per team2026-27 so far →
Leaders: Game-Winning Goals, Pittsburgh Penguins, 2025-26
1stBen KindelPIT · 77 GP4
2ndBryan RustPIT · 72 GP4
3rdEgor ChinakhovPIT/CBJ · 72 GP4
4thSidney CrosbyPIT · 68 GP4
5thJustin BrazeauPIT · 64 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 2025-26, 19 skaters qualify for this board; the median is 2 and Ben Kindel leads at 4.
Game-Winning Goals leaderboard
| # | Player | Team | GWG | GP | Per game | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben KindelFPIT | PIT | 4 | 77 | 0.05 | 17 | 45%▼5.3 |
| 2 | Bryan RustFPIT | PIT | 4 | 72 | 0.06 | 29 | 80%▼2.9 |
| 3 | Egor ChinakhovFPIT/CBJ | PIT/CBJ | 4 | 72 | 0.06 | 21 | 39%▼5.5 |
| 4 | Sidney CrosbyFPIT | PIT | 4 | 68 | 0.06 | 29 | 99% |
| 5 | Justin BrazeauFPIT | PIT | 4 | 64 | 0.06 | 17 | 8.9%▼0.8 |
| 6 |  Evgeni MalkinFPIT | PIT | 3 | 56 | 0.05 | 19 | 84%▼1 |
| 7 |  Tommy NovakFPIT | PIT | 2 | 82 | 0.02 | 16 | 37%▼0.5 |
| 8 |  Anthony ManthaFPIT | PIT | 2 | 81 | 0.02 | 33 | 32%▼6.4 |
| 9 |  Connor DewarFPIT | PIT | 2 | 78 | 0.03 | 14 | 3.4% |
| 10 |  Kris LetangDPIT | PIT | 2 | 74 | 0.03 | 3 | 54%▼2.9 |
| 11 |  Parker WotherspoonDPIT | PIT | 1 | 80 | 0.01 | 3 | 13%▼1.6 |
| 12 |  Noel AcciariFPIT | PIT | 1 | 67 | 0.01 | 13 | 4.1%▲0.8 |
| 13 |  Rickard RakellFPIT | PIT | 1 | 60 | 0.02 | 24 | 70%▼6.3 |
| 14 |  Samuel GirardDCOL/PIT | COL/PIT | 1 | 60 | 0.02 | 3 | 28%▲5 |
| 15 |  Elmer SoderblomFDET/PIT | DET/PIT | 1 | 59 | 0.02 | 7 | 4.0% |
| 16 |  Blake LizotteFPIT | PIT | 1 | 55 | 0.02 | 7 | 0.2% |
| 17 |  Connor CliftonDPIT | PIT | 1 | 50 | 0.02 | 2 | 5.7%▼0.8 |
| 18 |  Kevin HayesFPIT | PIT | 1 | 28 | 0.04 | 4 | 0.0% |
| 19 |  Filip HallanderFPIT | PIT | 1 | 13 | 0.08 | 1 | 9.7%▼1.7 |
Frequently asked questions
Who leads the NHL in Game-Winning Goals in 2025-26?
Ben Kindel leads with 4. The median of the 19 qualified skaters is 2.
Which defenseman leads in Game-Winning Goals in 2025-26?
Kris Letang leads NHL defensemen with 2; the top forward is Ben Kindel at 4.
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).