The Hershey Bears have a new top scorer and his name is Hendrix Lapierre. The Capitals’ 2020 first-round draft selection has six points in his last four games and 10 points overall this season in his first-ever AHL action.
The Bears are flaming hot right now as winners of six straight games and Lapierre is a big part of that success. He scored a goal for the second-straight night on Sunday against the Laval Rocket and added a primary assist in the Bears’ 4-1 victory.
3-for-3 pic.twitter.com/pFhC53L2g6
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) November 14, 2022
Lapierre kicked things off for Hershey on Sunday with the opening salvo in the game. The talented 20-year-old fended off a Rocket defenseman behind the net in the offensive zone, curled around through the right faceoff circle to the slot, and fired a wrister five-hole to beat the Laval netminder.
The goal was his third of the season on his team-leading 26th shot. All three of his goals have come at even strength.
Make it two games in a row for @Lapierreh29! 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/MxBobQNxQe
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) November 13, 2022
Later in the first period, Lapierre found himself with the puck at the top of the left circle on a Hershey power play. He fired a quick wrister that forced a save from the goaltender, collected the rebound, and then played a bit of catch with defenseman Bobby Nardella. After getting the puck back, Lapierre made a quick move toward the goal that freed up Nardella at the point for a one-time blast to give the Bears a 2-0 lead.
The youngster is one assist behind Mason Morelli (8) for the Hershey lead in apples. In the AHL overall, he is tied for third among all rookies with seven.
Blast away, @bnardella_7 🚀 pic.twitter.com/gcLh0cdNcn
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) November 13, 2022
The most impressive part about his shared team lead in points, with veteran Mike Vecchione, is that Lapierre has done it exclusively in third-line minutes and with no first-unit power play time. Vecchione on the other hand is on Hershey’s top line and top power-play unit.
Lapierre’s plus-6 rating also ranks first among Hershey forwards. While plus/minus is a much-maligned stat it still does simply show, with other context factored in, that he clearly is a net positive for the Bears at even strength in his first true season of professional hockey.
Screenshot via @thehersheybears/Instagram
