Ovechkin Tops NHL’s Best 5 Shooters

Football has accurate placekickers and basketball has sharpshooters from the perimeter.

With hockey, people like to talk about goal scorers, but what about pinpoint shooters?

The NHL has an abundance of talented players who can score from different maneuvers around the goal such as wrist shots, slap shots and deflections. The players who can actually line up their shots and are mostly on target with high shooting percentages set themselves apart from the rest.

Their skill is accuracy from bullet shots that can find the area of the net they shoot for on a consistent basis. The following is a Top 5 list of the most accurate shooters in the NHL today:

5. Vladimir Tarasenko – St. Louis Blues

Tarasenko, 23, is one of the most promising young prospects in the NHL today. He finished last season making an impressive14 percent of his shots and an incredible 42.9 percent in the postseason.

He made six goals in the six playoff games he played. His 37 goals ranked fifth overall off of 264 shots on goal, which ranks 11th in NHL history.

He showed his great shooting from the start in 2013-14, his first full season in the NHL. He converted 21 goals in only 64 games played.

4. Tyler Seguin – Dallas Stars

Seguin, also 23, made 37 goals similar to Tarasenko in 2014-15 and the previous season. His 280 shots on goal ranked fifth in the league. Because of that high number, he finished below Tarasenko, making 13.2 percent of his attempts.

It is a very respectable percentage, however, that is a career high for Seguin and an improvement from the 12.6 percent mark the previous season.

Other than in his rookie season, Seguin has scored 30 goals or came close that to that number each of his first four NHL seasons.

3. Joe Pavelski – San Jose Sharks

Pavelski, a three-time 20 goal scorer, is one of the most consistent offensive players in the NHL since he was a rookie in 2006-07. He has scored 30 goals twice in his career and 40 once in 2013-14.

Pavelski scored an impressive 37 goals – tied for fifth in the NHL with Seguin and Tarasenko – last season with San Jose. His shooting percentage of 14.2 percent topped Tarasenko’s mark of 14.0, coming off 261 shots on goal, ranking14th most in the NHL.

Pavelski combines his great shooting ability with his skill of find the net as the Sharks’ leading scorer in three of the last four seasons.

2. Steven Stamkos – Tampa Bay Lightning

Stamkos shot a phenomenal 16 percent last season which kept his career shooting mark at 17.2 percent. In the 2011-12 season, Stamkos made incredible 19.8 percent of his shots when he reached 60 goals scored.

It is debatable that Stamkos should actually be the top shooter overall because of these percentages. His blistering shot and quick release are beautiful to watch because the puck zips to the net consistently to where he aims.

Stamkos is only 25 and is thought highly enough be his peers to be Lightning’s team captain.

1. Alex Ovechkin – Washington Capitals

Scorer and shooter supreme is Ovechkin, a five-time winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL’s leading goal scorer.

He has made 50 goals five times in his career and 60 once. He is a model of consistency with the abundance of goals coming from his deadly accurate quick release.

The 29-year-old Russian shot an incredibly high amount last season, firing 395 shots, the most in the league. But he carried a very impressive shooting percentage of 13.2 percent despite that high number. His career mark is 12.4 percent.

Gr8 to see Bobby Orr!!! pic.twitter.com/jI93ft2Sos

— Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8) December 17, 2014