NHL Team Record When Scoring First 2020-21

Leaders: Record When Scoring First, 2020-21

1stVegas Golden Knights36 Games86.1%
2ndEdmonton Oilers27 Games85.2%
3rdNew York Islanders27 Games85.2%
4thTampa Bay Lightning27 Games81.5%
5thColorado Avalanche36 Games80.6%
6thPittsburgh Penguins29 Games79.3%
7thMinnesota Wild30 Games76.7%
8thWashington Capitals33 Games75.8%
9thCalgary Flames27 Games74.1%
10thBoston Bruins34 Games73.5%

The full ranked table, with filters, follows.

What Record When Scoring First measures

Win percentage in games where the team scored the opening goal. League-wide, the team that scores first wins about two games in three. All 32 teams, regular season, with the number of games behind each figure. Wins divided by games in the situation; W-L-OTL beside it. Blown leads are the games with the lead at that point that the team did not win (losses in regulation, overtime or a shootout).

Year to year this split repeats at r = 0.44 (252 team-seasons, 2017-18 to 2025-26), against r = 0.60 for overall points %. That is moderate, and most of it is team quality: a good team wins more in every split.

Scoring first is worth a lot on the night, but how well a team converts it mostly restates how good the team is. Use the overall points % and goal differential boards first. In 2020-21, 31 teams qualify for this board; the median is 70.0% and Vegas Golden Knights leads at 86.1%.

Record When Scoring First leaderboard

Season2026-27 2025-26 2024-25 2023-24

2020-21

2022-23 2021-22 2020-21 2019-20 2018-19 2017-18

Year to year this split repeats at r = 0.44 (252 team-seasons, 2017-18 to 2025-26), against r = 0.60 for overall points %. That is moderate, and most of it is team quality: a good team wins more in every split.
The Home, Away and Last 10 columns (where shown) count only those games, so each holds a fraction of the season sample: a split of a few games is noise, not a trend.
We have no live or period odds history, so we can’t compare these records to the market after vig. This is a description of what happened, not a bet.

NHL Team Record When Scoring First, 2020-21, All situations
#	Team	Win %	Games	W-L-OTL	Home	Away	Last 10	Blown leads	Blown %	Pts %	% of games	Pctl
1	Vegas Golden Knights	86.1%	36	31-3-2	78.9%	94.1%	87.5%	5	13.9%	88.9%	64.3%	100
2	Edmonton Oilers	85.2%	27	23-3-1	91.7%	80.0%	80.0%	4	14.8%	87.0%	48.2%	95
3	New York Islanders	85.2%	27	23-2-2	88.2%	80.0%	75.0%	4	14.8%	88.9%	48.2%	95
4	Tampa Bay Lightning	81.5%	27	22-4-1	93.3%	66.7%	100.0%	5	18.5%	83.3%	48.2%	90
5	Colorado Avalanche	80.6%	36	29-5-2	89.5%	70.6%	75.0%	7	19.4%	83.3%	64.3%	87
6	Pittsburgh Penguins	79.3%	29	23-4-2	81.3%	76.9%	100.0%	6	20.7%	82.8%	51.8%	83
7	Minnesota Wild	76.7%	30	23-5-2	81.3%	71.4%	50.0%	7	23.3%	80.0%	53.6%	80
8	Washington Capitals	75.8%	33	25-5-3	71.4%	78.9%	83.3%	8	24.2%	80.3%	58.9%	77
9	Calgary Flames	74.1%	27	20-5-2	91.7%	60.0%	100.0%	7	25.9%	77.8%	48.2%	73
10	Boston Bruins	73.5%	34	25-6-3	86.7%	63.2%	85.7%	9	26.5%	77.9%	60.7%	67
11	Carolina Hurricanes	73.5%	34	25-4-5	72.2%	75.0%	60.0%	9	26.5%	80.9%	60.7%	67
12	Toronto Maple Leafs	73.5%	34	25-6-3	75.0%	72.2%	66.7%	9	26.5%	77.9%	60.7%	67
13	Nashville Predators	72.0%	25	18-6-1	76.9%	66.7%	75.0%	7	28.0%	74.0%	44.6%	58
14	Vancouver Canucks	72.0%	25	18-5-2	71.4%	72.7%	60.0%	7	28.0%	76.0%	44.6%	58
15	Florida Panthers	71.4%	28	20-6-2	80.0%	61.5%	71.4%	8	28.6%	75.0%	50.0%	53
16	New York Rangers	70.0%	30	21-7-2	84.6%	58.8%	80.0%	9	30.0%	73.3%	53.6%	50
17	Winnipeg Jets	67.9%	28	19-7-2	66.7%	68.8%	50.0%	9	32.1%	71.4%	50.0%	47
18	Ottawa Senators	66.7%	24	16-5-3	62.5%	75.0%	87.5%	8	33.3%	72.9%	42.9%	42
19	Los Angeles Kings	66.7%	21	14-7-0	66.7%	66.7%	0.0%	7	33.3%	66.7%	37.5%	42
20	Dallas Stars	65.4%	26	17-4-5	64.3%	66.7%	100.0%	9	34.6%	75.0%	46.4%	37
21	Chicago Blackhawks	63.0%	27	17-6-4	71.4%	53.8%	40.0%	10	37.0%	70.4%	48.2%	33
22	Montreal Canadiens	61.3%	31	19-6-6	64.3%	58.8%	25.0%	12	38.7%	71.0%	55.4%	30
23	Arizona Coyotes	60.9%	23	14-7-2	60.0%	61.5%	50.0%	9	39.1%	65.2%	41.1%	25
24	Philadelphia Flyers	60.9%	23	14-5-4	58.3%	63.6%	66.7%	9	39.1%	69.6%	41.1%	25
25	St. Louis Blues	56.5%	23	13-3-7	53.8%	60.0%	66.7%	10	43.5%	71.7%	41.1%	20
26	New Jersey Devils	55.2%	29	16-11-2	46.7%	64.3%	71.4%	13	44.8%	58.6%	51.8%	17
27	Detroit Red Wings	52.0%	25	13-6-6	57.1%	45.5%	50.0%	12	48.0%	64.0%	44.6%	13
28	San Jose Sharks	46.4%	28	13-11-4	45.5%	47.1%	40.0%	15	53.6%	53.6%	50.0%	10
29	Anaheim Ducks	44.4%	27	12-8-7	40.0%	47.1%	25.0%	15	55.6%	57.4%	48.2%	7
30	Buffalo Sabres	42.1%	19	8-6-5	50.0%	36.4%	50.0%	11	57.9%	55.3%	33.9%	3
31	Columbus Blue Jackets	40.6%	32	13-11-8	50.0%	31.3%	25.0%	19	59.4%	53.1%	57.1%	0

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Frequently asked questions

Which team leads the NHL in Record When Scoring First in 2020-21?

Vegas Golden Knights leads with 86.1%. The median of the 31 qualified teams is 70.0%.

How is Record When Scoring First calculated?

Wins divided by games in the situation; W-L-OTL beside it. Blown leads are the games with the lead at that point that the team did not win (losses in regulation, overtime or a shootout). Regular season only, from the NHL's official game data.

How reliable is Record When Scoring First?