Most "Clutch" NHL Players Since 1980 - #1

[DitchMarner]

If your team desperately needs a big, game-deciding play (whether it's a save, goal, hit or defensive play), which player do you most want in your lineup?

Click to read more...

 

[Trap Jesus]

I'm tempted to go with Claude Lemieux, but I'll go Sakic. Here are the top players for either game-tying or go-ahead goals in the 3rd period/OT in the playoffs (since 1980, current players in all caps):

Rank	Player	Goals
1	Brett Hull	20
2	Joe Sakic	19
3	Jaromir Jagr	18
4	Claude Lemieux	17
T-5	Bobby Smith	15
T-5	Glenn Anderson	15
7	Dale Hunter	13
T-8	Daniel Briere	12
T-8	Esa Tikkanen	12
T-8	Jeremy Roenick	12
T-8	Mike Modano	12
T-8	PATRICK KANE	12
T-13	Cam Neely	11
T-13	JOE PAVELSKI	11
T-13	Luc Robitaille	11
T-13	NICKLAS BACKSTROM	11
T-13	PATRICE BERGERON	11
T-13	Steve Thomas	11
T-13	Vincent Damphousse	11
T-20	ALEX OVECHKIN	10
T-20	Chris Drury	10
T-20	COREY PERRY	10
T-20	Doug Gilmour	10
T-20	MARIAN GABORIK	10
T-20	Mark Messier	10
T-20	PATRICK MARLEAU	10
T-20	Russ Courtnall	10
T-20	Wayne Gretzky	10
T-29	Brian Propp	9
T-29	Dave Andreychuk	9
T-29	Jamie Langenbrunner	9
T-29	Jari Kurri	9
T-29	Joe Murphy	9
T-29	JONATHAN TOEWS	9
T-29	Martin St. Louis	9
T-29	Mats Naslund	9
T-29	Rod Brind'Amour	9
T-29	Sergei Fedorov	9
T-29	Stephane Richer	9
T-29	Stu Barnes	9
T-41	Alex Kovalev	8
T-41	Brian Bellows	8
T-41	Guy Carbonneau	8
T-41	John LeClair	8
T-41	LOGAN COUTURE	8
T-41	Joe Nieuwendyk	8
T-41	Mark Recchi	8
T-41	Mats Sundin	8
T-41	Petr Sykora	8
T-41	Rick Tocchet	8
T-41	Steve Payne	8
T-41	Teemu Selanne	8
T-41	ZACH PARISE	8
T-54	BOBBY RYAN	7
T-54	Brendan Shanahan	7
T-54	Bryan Trottier	7
T-54	Dino Ciccarelli	7
T-54	EVGENI MALKIN	7
T-54	Henrik Zetterberg	7
T-54	Joe Mullen	7
T-54	Joel Ward	7
T-54	JUSTIN WILLIAMS	7
T-54	Kirk Muller	7
T-54	Martin Havlat	7
T-54	Matt Cooke	7
T-54	NICK BONINO	7
T-54	Ron Francis	7
T-54	Scott Gomez	7
T-54	Scott Niedermayer	7
T-54	Trevor Linden	7
T-54	Vyacheslav Kozlov	7
T-54	Wendel Clark	7
T-73	Al MacInnis	6
T-73	Bernie Federko	6
T-73	Brad Richards	6
T-73	BRANDON DUBINSKY	6
T-73	BRENT SEABROOK	6
T-73	Daniel Alfredsson	6
T-73	Dave Babych	6
T-73	Dave Poulin	6
T-73	FILIP FORSBERG	6
T-73	JADEN SCHWARTZ	6
T-73	JAKE GUENTZEL	6
T-73	Jere Lehtinen	6
T-73	John Tonelli	6
T-73	JORDAN STAAL	6
T-73	Ken Linseman	6
T-73	Kevin Stevens	6
T-73	Kris Draper	6
T-73	Mike Gartner	6
T-73	MILAN LUCIC	6
T-73	Nicklas Lidstrom	6
T-73	Paul Coffey	6
T-73	Pavel Datsyuk	6
T-73	Peter Stastny	6
T-73	Ray Bourque	6
T-73	RYAN KESLER	6
T-73	SIDNEY CROSBY	6
T-73	Simon Gagne	6
T-73	Steve Larmer	6
T-73	Steve Yzerman	6
T-73	TOMAS HERTL	6
T-73	TYLER JOHNSON	6

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[amnesiac]

Gretzky... points are points. Being the biggest producer in the playoffs by far is clutch in itself.

GWG stat is a little random


and wheres Claude Lemieux?

 

[DitchMarner]

and wheres Claude Lemieux?

Will add him next time.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Roy.

 

[Video Nasty]

No question, it’s Gretzky for me. Always showed up in the playoffs.

 

[slapKing]

It's Gretzky.

 

[aufheben]

Danny Briere.

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

It's always Gretzky. Not sure why some people try to complicate things lol.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Lemieux

 

[Gurglesons]

Went Lemieux. Nobody showed up in the big games like him.

 

[wetcoast]

I'm tempted to go with Claude Lemieux, but I'll go Sakic. Here are the top players for either game-tying or go-ahead goals in the 3rd period/OT in the playoffs (since 1980, current players in all caps):

Rank	Player	Goals
1	Brett Hull	20
2	Joe Sakic	19
3	Jaromir Jagr	18
4	Claude Lemieux	17
T-5	Bobby Smith	15
T-5	Glenn Anderson	15
7	Dale Hunter	13
T-8	Daniel Briere	12
T-8	Esa Tikkanen	12
T-8	Jeremy Roenick	12
T-8	Mike Modano	12
T-8	PATRICK KANE	12
T-13	Cam Neely	11
T-13	JOE PAVELSKI	11
T-13	Luc Robitaille	11
T-13	NICKLAS BACKSTROM	11
T-13	PATRICE BERGERON	11
T-13	Steve Thomas	11
T-13	Vincent Damphousse	11
T-20	ALEX OVECHKIN	10
T-20	Chris Drury	10
T-20	COREY PERRY	10
T-20	Doug Gilmour	10
T-20	MARIAN GABORIK	10
T-20	Mark Messier	10
T-20	PATRICK MARLEAU	10
T-20	Russ Courtnall	10
T-20	Wayne Gretzky	10
T-29	Brian Propp	9
T-29	Dave Andreychuk	9
T-29	Jamie Langenbrunner	9
T-29	Jari Kurri	9
T-29	Joe Murphy	9
T-29	JONATHAN TOEWS	9
T-29	Martin St. Louis	9
T-29	Mats Naslund	9
T-29	Rod Brind'Amour	9
T-29	Sergei Fedorov	9
T-29	Stephane Richer	9
T-29	Stu Barnes	9
T-41	Alex Kovalev	8
T-41	Brian Bellows	8
T-41	Guy Carbonneau	8
T-41	John LeClair	8
T-41	LOGAN COUTURE	8
T-41	Joe Nieuwendyk	8
T-41	Mark Recchi	8
T-41	Mats Sundin	8
T-41	Petr Sykora	8
T-41	Rick Tocchet	8
T-41	Steve Payne	8
T-41	Teemu Selanne	8
T-41	ZACH PARISE	8
T-54	BOBBY RYAN	7
T-54	Brendan Shanahan	7
T-54	Bryan Trottier	7
T-54	Dino Ciccarelli	7
T-54	EVGENI MALKIN	7
T-54	Henrik Zetterberg	7
T-54	Joe Mullen	7
T-54	Joel Ward	7
T-54	JUSTIN WILLIAMS	7
T-54	Kirk Muller	7
T-54	Martin Havlat	7
T-54	Matt Cooke	7
T-54	NICK BONINO	7
T-54	Ron Francis	7
T-54	Scott Gomez	7
T-54	Scott Niedermayer	7
T-54	Trevor Linden	7
T-54	Vyacheslav Kozlov	7
T-54	Wendel Clark	7
T-73	Al MacInnis	6
T-73	Bernie Federko	6
T-73	Brad Richards	6
T-73	BRANDON DUBINSKY	6
T-73	BRENT SEABROOK	6
T-73	Daniel Alfredsson	6
T-73	Dave Babych	6
T-73	Dave Poulin	6
T-73	FILIP FORSBERG	6
T-73	JADEN SCHWARTZ	6
T-73	JAKE GUENTZEL	6
T-73	Jere Lehtinen	6
T-73	John Tonelli	6
T-73	JORDAN STAAL	6
T-73	Ken Linseman	6
T-73	Kevin Stevens	6
T-73	Kris Draper	6
T-73	Mike Gartner	6
T-73	MILAN LUCIC	6
T-73	Nicklas Lidstrom	6
T-73	Paul Coffey	6
T-73	Pavel Datsyuk	6
T-73	Peter Stastny	6
T-73	Ray Bourque	6
T-73	RYAN KESLER	6
T-73	SIDNEY CROSBY	6
T-73	Simon Gagne	6
T-73	Steve Larmer	6
T-73	Steve Yzerman	6
T-73	TOMAS HERTL	6
T-73	TYLER JOHNSON	6

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Backstrom really makes his goals count as 11 of his 36 are clutch according to your list here.

Bobby Smith with 15 and 5th overall is surprising as well.

 

[thegoldenyear]

Where does one mention the nutty fact Mario never scored a playoff OTG?

 

[volcom92886]

Williams if its a game 7, Gretzky anytime else.

 

[Hockeyholic]

Where does one mention the nutty fact Mario never scored a playoff OTG?

Just one of those random things. Ovi hasn't either.

 

[HarryLime]

Sakic and Roy for me, but I'll vote Gretkzy just cause I missed his career and it's pretty obvious he deserves it

 

[thegoldenyear]

Just one of those random things. Ovi hasn't either.

Huh! That's nuts. And kind of random, as you say, but there's a reason this thread will have a lot of Sakic in it, and OTGs are an easy reference point... (Watch Ovi score one next week...)

 

[Hockeyholic]

Huh! That's nuts. And kind of random, as you say, but there's a reason this thread will have a lot of Sakic in it, and OTGs are an easy reference point... (Watch Ovi score one next week...)

Ha. Probably.

Honestly, I think a player can be clutch without putting OT winners. For instance, how many times did Ovi (And Lemieux) set up their teammate for the OT winner? What little things did they do to lead to said OT goals?

I don't think Joe Sakic was a more clutch player than Mario Lemieux in the postseason. And I watched both closely.