Clutch Kings: NLL’s game-winning GOATs

Honestly, there weren’t a whole lot a Clutch Kings points produced last weekend. Lots of leads, very few comebacks, especially anything overly significant late beyond the Albany/Georgia double.

Blaze Riorden narrowed the gap for number one (now just 0.75 outside of first) with a late second quarter game-tying goal for the Philadelphia Wings (wildly their last of the game), but Connor Kearnan’s 14.00 points from the previous week are still enough to continue leading our clutch countdown.

Eli McLaughlin scored his league leading third game winner for the Colorado Mammoth, but it’s Clutch King point value was pretty low since it sank with nearly 20 minutes still left in the team’s 14-10W over the Calgary Roughnecks.

While his third-quarter clincher isn’t cause for a ton of celebration, the fact that McLaughlin has 15 GWGs over his career most certainly is. Even more impressive, only twelve players in the history of the league (well, since they started recording and publicly posting game-winning goals in 2005) have netted more winners than Eli.

Of course, legends like Gary Gait, Paul Gait, John Tavares, Tom Marechek and dozens of others likely have heftier GWG totals, but sourcing, confirming and calculating NLL stats for anything before 2005 would be suspect at best sadly. Unless RA Philly (Corporal before we were lucky enough to have Corporal caretaking a site every NLL team & NLL numbers nerd uses, SwarmItUp.com) has forgotten-about filing cabinets filled with old EPBLL & MILL game minutes collecting decades worth of dust, 2005 is as good as it’s going to get for more granular game-day details like game winners.

So, who’s scored the most recorded game-winning goals in NLL history? Well, the lead graphic likely tipped you off, although John Grant likely would have been a heavy favourite either way.

Of the 30 top totals, 20 of those tremendously talented game-winning goal getters have been on active rosters this year.

Dan Dawson, who’s past proven clutch power we reviewed earlier this year, is second behind Grant after icing two games during his record-breaking 2022 campaign.

Shawn Evans, Jeff Shattler, Curtis Dickson and Dane Dobbie all sit within the Top 10. The four fire finishers all also suited up alongside one another in Calgary for four seasons. During those years together, combined they scored nearly 70% of all Roughnecks’ game winners (their combined GWG totals/Calgary’s regular season W total):

2012: 9/12
2013: 6/9
2014: 7/12
2015: 5/7

Shattler currently competes with another couple money ballers that are high on the list in Robert Church & Mark Matthews. Although their sticks have yet to secure a GWer in 2022, the trio has had strong GWG results since soon after Shattler arrived in Saskatoon…

2018: 3/14
2019: 7/11
2020: 4/7

While their goals per might be a bit behind many on our all-time tally below, both Sean Pollock and Curtis Knight have long owned reps for their clutchness, and have the numbers to back that up. In fact, if you’re wondering who scored all the Saskatchewan Rush’s GWGs in that 2018 season mentioned above, it was actually Knight, who finished with five game winners that winter.

Kaleb Toth, who many would agree scored the most money goal in NLL history, unfortunately played some of his most spectacular seasons before 2005. But even with that said, his ten all-time winners have him just outside of the Top 30. Would have to imagine he unofficially has double that though.

The likelihood that either Tavares or Gait would lead the legit career GWG column is high. Even though more than half of JT’s career was played prior to 2005, he still is only topped by Grant and Dawson in the GWGs that got verified. Gait played even fewer seasons after 2005, but get this…

During one of Gait’s comeback seasons with the Rochester Knighthawks in 2010, he scored 16 times in eleven games. A quarter of them were game-winning goals. Fluke? F no.

Below are the Top 30 recorded game-winning goal leaders during NLL regular seasons. And similar to when game-winning goals have been had in recent weeks, we buried the updated Clutch Kings under the all-timers.

All-Time NLL Game-Winning Goals

1. John Grant 25
2. Dan Dawson 23
T3. John Tavares 22
T3. Shawn Evans 22
T3. Jeff Shattler 22
T6. Ryan Benesch 20
T6. Curtis Dickson 20
T8. Dane Dobbie 19
T8. Callum Crawford 19
T8. Mark Steenhuis 19
11. Josh Sanderson 18
12. Colin Doyle 16
T13. Robert Church 15
T13. Eli McLaughlin 15
T13. Adam Jones 15
T16. Cody Jamieson 14
T16 Sean Pollock 14
T18. Curtis Knight 13
T18. Mark Matthews 13
T18. Lewis Ratcliff 13
T18. Rhys Duch 13
T18. Drew Westervelt 13
T18. Stephan Leblanc 13
T18. Dhane Smith 13
T25. Kasey Beirnes 12
T25. Zack Greer 12
T25. Tracey Kelusky 12
T25. Corey Small 12
T25. Kevin Crowley 12
T25. Rob Hellyer 12
T25. Lyle Thompson 12

NLL Clutch Kings: Week 10

CKs Rank. Player (NLL Rank), Team, CKs Points (GTG/GAG/GWG)

1. Connor Kearnan (T2), New York, 14.00 (6/1/1)
2. Blaze Riorden (T26), Philadelphia, 13.25 (2/3/1)
3. Josh Byrne (T9), Buffalo, 12.00 (1/5/1)
T4. Austin Staats (T26), San Diego, 11.00 (4/2/1)
T4. Dan Dawson (T51), Toronto, 11.00 (1/1/2)
6. Ben McIntosh (5), Philadelphia, 10.50 (0/4/0)
7. Brett Hickey (T22), Philadelphia, 10.25 (2/2/1)
T8. Chris Boushy (T26), Halifax, 9.00 (0/2/2)
T8. Lyle Thompson (1), Georgia, 9.00 (4/0/1)
T8. Matt Rambo (T16), Philadelphia, 9.00 (2/1/1)
T8. Patrick Dodds (T44), Panther City, 9.00 (2/0/1)*
T8. Stephan Leblanc (T88), Halifax, 9.00 (0/1/1)
13. Chris Cloutier (T44), Buffalo, 8.50 (0/1/2)
14. Dane Dobbie (T2), San Diego, 8.25 (2/2/1)
15. Wes Berg (T11), San Diego, 8.00 (0/4/1)
T16. Andrew Kew (T33), Albany, 7.50 (2/3/0)
T16. Josh Medeiros (T88), Panther City, 7.50 (0/2/0)*
T16. Thomas Hoggarth (T51), Rochester, 7.50 (0/1/1)
T16. Zach Manns (T51), Toronto, 7.50 (2/2/0)
20. Robert Church (T11), Saskatchewan, 7.25 (3/2/0)
T21. Eli McLaughlin (T26), Colorado, 7.00 (1/0/3)
T21. Shayne Jackson (T9), Georgia, 7.00 (2/1/1)
T21. Zed Williams (T72), Colorado, 7.00 (1/1/0)

*Rookie

Scoring System

First 3 Quarters (GTG/GAG/GWG)

Even-Strength Goal: 1.00/1.50/2.00
Power-Play Goal: 0.50/0.75/1.00
Short-Handed Goal: 2.00/3.00/4.00

4th Quarter (GTG/GAG/GWG)

Even-Strength Goal: 2.00/3.00/4.00
Power-Play Goal: 1.00/1.50/2.00
Short-Handed Goal: 4.00/6.00/8.00

Overtime (GWG)

Even-Strength Goal: 6.00
Power-Play Goal: 3.00
Short-Handed Goal: 12.00