5 active NHL players with the most career Stanley Cup playoff goals ft. Joe Pavelski

By Ryan Gagne

Modified May 16, 2024 18:31 GMT

Wayne Gretzky may own most of the scoring records in the Stanley Cup playoffs, which included 122 goals and 382 points. However, he hasn't played since 1999, and several players from today's generation have reached 50, 60 and 70 goals.

To tally those totals, NHL players must make at least 15 appearances in the Stanley Cup playoffs, which everyone on the active goals list has achieved. Although their success hasn't always resulted in team success, being one of the top active playoff goal scorers is impressive.

5 active NHL players in 2024 with the most career Stanley Cup playoff goals

#5. Brad Marchand (56 goals)

Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins

Brad Marchand is one of two skaters still playing in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, as the Boston Bruins are in the second round against the Florida Panthers. With three goals in 10 games, he's broken a three-way tie with Corey Perry, Patrick Kane and Nikita Kucherov for fifth place on the active list.

At 35, Marchand may not have a chance to catch any of the other names on this list, but he broke Cam Neely's team record for most goals in Bruins history with a milestone lamplighter in Game 4 of the opening-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

#4. Evgeni Malkin (67 goals)

Evgeni Malkin is an Art Ross and Conn Smythe winner, so seeing his name on this list is unsurprising. As one of the greatest skaters in Pittsburgh Penguins history, he's chasing his long-time teammate Sidney Crosby for the most active playoff goals.

The duo is chasing franchise icon Mario Lemieux, who maintains the team record with 76 lamplighters in 109 playoff games. In 15 playoff runs, Malkin has scored at least 10 goals twice, with a personal best of 14 in 2009, when he won his first Stanley Cup.

#3. Sidney Crosby (71 goals)

Crosby is one of just seven players to win the Conn Smythe twice, winning back-to-back awards in 2016 and 2017. He ranks third on this list despite only reaching double digits (15) in playoff goals once in 2009.

Crosby is a first-ballot Hall of Famer who may pass several of Lemieux's team records if he remains healthy and continues to play a few more seasons. Unfortunately, the Penguins have missed the playoffs for two straight seasons, meaning he's stuck in third place for now.

#2. Alex Ovechkin (72 goals)

Not only is Alex Ovechkin the active leading goal scorer in the regular season (853), but he's 41 goals away from being the leading goal scorer in NHL history. Despite going goalless in the playoffs for the first time in his career in 2024, he remains firmly entrenched in second place on this list.

As another Conn Smythe Trophy winner (2018), Ovechkin has reached double digits in goals twice in 15 playoff appearances. Oddly enough, he tends to finish playoff runs with five goals, reaching that exact total six times.

#1. Joe Pavelski (74 goals)

Joe Pavelski, Dallas Stars

In 2024, it took Joe Pavelski 12 games to score his first goal of the playoffs, which happened to be his 74th career goal, which keeps him atop the active playoff goal list. Considering Ovechkin went goalless in Round 1, Pavelski has a chance to separate himself if the Dallas Stars go deeper into the playoffs.

Interestingly, Pavelski is the only skater on this list whose name isn't on the Stanley Cup. Since he's only missed the postseason twice in his career, he's been able to rack up 74 goals in 194 playoff games. Meanwhile, his best postseason runs, 14 goals in 2016 and 13 in 2020, were seasons he played in the Stanley Cup Final.

Statistics were obtained from https://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters and seasonal totals from each player's Hockey-Reference.com profiles.