Hendrix Lapierre will experience another NHL first Monday against the Ottawa Senators. The 19-year-old Capitals rookie will play in his hometown barn for the first time in his NHL career after Nic Dowd was announced to be out with a lower-body injury.
The Capitals 2020 first-round pick grew up in Gatineau, a city located in western Quebec, Canada. Gatineau is on the other side of the Ottawa River and due north of the capital city.
Lapierre is expecting “a lot” of close family and friends to attend tonight’s game at Canadian Tire Centre to see him play.
“My family will be around 15-20 people really close to me,” Lapierre said. “Other than that, I know a lot of people texting me that will come. So it should be pretty fun. I know I’ll have a lot of friends and family supporting me from back home. It’s really cool and hopefully, it can give me a boost.”
Lapierre admitted however that even though the arena is approximately 20 miles away from where he grew up, he did not have much experience playing or being there.
“I played like one, two, or three games here,” Lapierre said. “I came a couple times to see the Sens play. I wasn’t a regular guy coming here. I have good memories here but it’s still one of my first times. It’ll be pretty fun. I can already see this building rocking tonight. It should be pretty cool.”
Since playing in the Capitals’ first two games of the season, Lapierre has sat in the last three, giving way to top prospect Connor McMichael. Lapierre said he’s made the most of his time out of the lineup. A superstar on his junior teams, Lapierre rarely experiences his own teams’ games from anywhere except on the ice.
“I think you can learn a lot of things from above, honestly,” he said. “The game is a little slower up there so you can see more things (develop). If I had questions in the system and stuff, being up there really helps me. In the practices, I just tried to work as hard as I can. I knew I would be back in the lineup one day or another so I didn’t take anything for granted and worked as hard as I can. Right now, I feel really good and good to go.”
Lapierre scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game, getting props from one of his favorite NHL players growing up, Alex Ovechkin, at the bench. With that milestone behind him, Lapierre believes it will allow him to play more effectively in future games.
“I want to say yeah,” Lapierre said. “Obviously, it’s not about goals and stuff but getting one as quick as that you can think about other stuff. You can just play hockey without thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve got to get this first one. I’ve got to get this first one.’ I think it was good. It was just a really good first game honestly. We got a big win and that’s the most important thing.”
Lapierre was not expected to begin his NHL career this early. The French Canadian was supposed to take the ice with the QMJHL’s Acadie–Bathurst Titan, who acquired the center over the summer in a huge offseason trade with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens. Instead, Lapierre dazzled at Capitals camp, tying Evgeny Kuznetsov in preseason points (5) and forcing his way onto the Opening Night roster (with Nicklas Backstrom out with injury). Lapierre can play in nine NHL games this season before either having to stay with the Capitals or go back to the QMJHL.
“I just really want to keep proving that I can play and be an effective player here,” Lapierre said. “I wasn’t really satisfied with my second game. I thought it was a tough one. Maybe just the emotions of the first one. I don’t know. I just really want to keep working. Keep doing the right things correctly. Just play my game. Do the right details correctly. If I do that, I think good things will happen.”
Screenshot: @Capitals
