Alex Tuch continued his early-season heroics for the Washington Capitals in their 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators, Thursday night.
Tuch scored the game-winning goal — his fifth of the young season — with 9:51 remaining in the third period.
Alex Tuch’s 10th goal in 12 games
Tuch beat Predators goaltender Juuse Saros with a wrist shot from the dot of the left circle, beating him over the shoulder short-side. Tuch ended up with the puck after Jakob Chychrun entered the zone and put a harmless but intentional shot on net, that Saros deflected to the corner with his goalie stick. Jordan Kyrou then raced to the puck first where he hit Tuch, who had got in position in the home plate area.
“Yeah, I mean, the fourth goal sticks out to me is that forecheck off of Saros — he plays the puck so well,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said after the game. “So you have to strategize against that and try to do some different things… [T]he fourth goal, we… shoot it off him. And so we talked about that. Like, he’s that good at playing the puck. You have to build a little bit of a plan. And the guys did an excellent job on that fourth goal and everything. You know, Tuchy, the shot is world class. But everything we did to get him into that spot was really well done by our group.”
“I saw the two guys went to [Kyrou in the corner], which they were doing all night,” Tuch added. “So, I mean, he’s such a skilled player. Being able to find that I thought was no problem for him. I was just in a good area.”
The goal was another example where Tuch has used his high hockey IQ and hard, accurate shot to help lead the Capitals to victory.
Tuch now has 10 goals in his first 12 games with Washington, half of which have been game-winners — the most in the NHL.
2026–27 NHL Game-Winning Goals Leaders
| Rank | Player | Team | GP | GWG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Tuch | WSH | 12 | 5 |
| T-2 | Kirill Kaprizov | MIN | 15 | 3 |
| T-2 | Mason McTavish | STL | 13 | 3 |
| T-2 | Nick Schmaltz | UTA | 14 | 3 |
Through games of October 29, 2026.
Tuch’s five game-winners have already surpassed his totals from each of the previous two seasons. His career high is nine, which he set during his 36-goal campaign with Buffalo in 2022–23.
Alex Tuch’s Game-Winning Goals by NHL Season
| Season | Team | GP | GWG |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | MIN | 6 | 0 |
| 2017–18 | VGK | 78 | 4 |
| 2018–19 | VGK | 74 | 6 |
| 2019–20 | VGK | 42 | 2 |
| 2020–21 | VGK | 55 | 3 |
| 2021–22 | BUF | 50 | 0 |
| 2022–23 | BUF | 74 | 9 |
| 2023–24 | BUF | 75 | 7 |
| 2024–25 | BUF | 82 | 4 |
| 2025–26 | BUF | 79 | 2 |
| 2026–27 | WSH | 12 | 5 |
| Career | — | 627 | 42 |
Regular-season statistics through October 29, 2026. Source: NHL.com.
“I mean, some of those are a little lucky,” Tuch said. “Some of them are, I don’t know, the opponent gets a late goal or something like that. But, no, I think our whole group’s just been rolling. I’ve been able to cash in on a couple goals. My line mates have been unbelievable. I’ve played with a bunch of different guys this year, and we just keep on pressing. And I think everyone’s kind of building chemistry with one another because we’re kind of playing the same way. We’re playing together, supporting each other. It’s been a lot of fun. (I) just want to keep it going. I just want to keep winning games because that’s the best part of it all.”
Analysts figured Tuch would find his way in Washington after scoring 30-or-more goals in three of the last four seasons, but not nearly to this degree, especially when he shares the ice with big scorers like Alex Ovechkin, Tom Wilson, Jordan Kyrou, Aliaksei Protas, Jakob Chychrun, and Ryan Leonard on the Capitals roster. One would assume that talent would likely eat up some of Tuch’s goal-scoring opportunities and bandwidth.
Instead, Tuch went from second fiddle to Tage Thompson in Buffalo, to first fiddle with Washington, putting him on pace to score more goals than Alex Ovechkin’s career best season in the NHL of 65 in 2007-08.
Tuch is currently on pace to score 70 times if he plays all 84 games of the 2026-27 season. He currently sits third in the league in goals, behind only Kirill Kaprizov and Leon Draisaitl.
2026–27 NHL Goal-Scoring Leaders
| Rank | Player | Team | GP | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kirill Kaprizov | MIN | 15 | 14 |
| 2 | Leon Draisaitl | EDM | 13 | 12 |
| T-3 | Alex Tuch | WSH | 12 | 10 |
| T-3 | Artturi Lehkonen | COL | 13 | 10 |
| T-3 | Kyle Connor | WPG | 13 | 10 |
| T-3 | Auston Matthews | TOR | 15 | 10 |
| T-7 | Alexis Lafrenière | NYR | 14 | 9 |
| T-7 | William Nylander | TOR | 15 | 9 |
| T-7 | Logan Stankoven | CAR | 15 | 9 |
| T-7 | Matvei Michkov | PHI | 15 | 9 |
Through games of October 29, 2026.
Over the past three games, Tuch has scored different five times, including a storybook game against the Buffalo Sabres, his former team. Tuch scored twice, including the overtime game-winner. He then followed that up with another two goals against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday.
The start of the Capitals’ eight-year marriage to Tuch has been honeymoon. Now the next questions become: How long will it last? and Could we have a historic, franchise-best season on our hands?
