The fascinating part is how each approaches his craft. Ovechkin, Stamkos, and Seguin, right-shot forwards, do not hesitate to rip off slap shots. Through 74 games, Ovechkin led all forwards with 93 slappers, according to the NHL. Stamkos had 71, second-most after Ovechkin. Seguin was in the No. 3 hole with 62 slap shots.

Alex Ovechkin (44 goals), Steven Stamkos (27), and Tyler Seguin (39) are among the league’s best at putting pucks in nets. Ditto for Brad Marchand (32).

Through 58 games, Marchand had none.

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“That sounds about right,” Marchand said. “I don’t think I’ve taken a slap shot in a lot of years. I don’t plan on taking one any time soon either. My stick’s too long to take a slap shot. It would just be an embarrassment to my team and myself.”

Of Marchand’s 226 shots last season, only three were slappers, according to the NHL. The most he’s been credited with is seven: in 2011-12, 2012-13, and 2014-15.

Marchand has taken only 159 shots this season, well off Ovechkin’s high-water mark of 315 among forwards. Marchand’s moneymaker is his wrist shot. He’s been credited with 89 wristers, 17 of which have hit the back of the net.

Brad Marchand’s shot selection is a likely factor in his long-term shooting success. Jim Davis/Globe Staff

In comparison with his peers, Marchand’s relative paucity of total shots and near-absence of slappers illustrate his selectiveness. Instead of being a high-volume shooter, Marchand prefers fewer shots. But the ones he takes are of high quality. And when he rips, he’s accurate with his shot.

This season, Marchand has buried 19.5 percent of his shots. Among regular players, Marchand has the fifth-best shooting percentage after Alex Kerfoot, William Karlsson, Brett Connolly, and Patrik Laine.


Of that cohort, however, Marchand is the most consistent shooter over time, as noted by his 15.9 percent career shooting percentage after 592 games. The worst he shot was 13.3 percent in 2014-15. Marchand’s peak was in 2012-13, when he drained 19.8 percent of his shots.

In comparison, this is Kerfoot’s first NHL season following four at Harvard. Karlsson’s 23.4 percent shooting percentage is due for a massive correction considering his previous best was 8.3 percent in 2015-16. Connolly (23.4 percent), the ex-Bruin, has a 13.0 percent career shooting percentage. Laine (19.9 percent) projects to be Ovechkin’s successor, but has only been in the league since last season.

Marchand’s shot selection is a likely factor in his long-term shooting success. Some left wings might fire slap shots when they steam toward the net. Marchand will not. His preference is to continue his approach and extend his options: an in-stride snap shot, a close-range backhander, or a series of in-tight dekes to make goalies commit.

It might be a different story if Marchand could hammer slappers as well as Ovechkin. But he knows his chances of scoring are better if he pulls another club from his bag.

“Goalies are just so good,” Marchand said. “The chances of scoring on a lot of slap shots just inside the blue line, very few guys score like that. They’re mostly from the D-men, I think. One-timers from the power play, stuff like that. I just don’t think you see many goals from slap shots from guys skating down the wing. A lot of goals now are in tight from the [tops of the circles] in, through traffic, stuff like that. It is more of a skilled game. Things tend to happen quicker down in and around the net.”


Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeFluto.