Pierrick Dubé stepped up big in another important game this year.
Playing with Team France at the 2026 Winter Olympic qualifiers, Dubé helped push his team to a 7-2 victory over Ukraine.
Dubé led all scorers in the game with three points (1g, 2a) and capped his performance off by scoring France’s fifth goal in the win.
Dubé, wearing number 92, scored on an odd-man rush with defenseman Enzo Cantagallo with 10:10 remaining in the second period.
He skated on France’s third line with NHL veteran Pierre-Édouard Bellemare and former Montreal Canadiens draft pick Tim Bozon. The fleet-of-foot winger still appears to be missing some teeth from when he took an Ethen Frank shot to the face in June.
This qualifying tournament is Dubé’s third career stint with the French senior men’s national team. The Lyon, France native’s last stint with the team before Thursday came during the 2022-23 campaign and he tallied two goals in four games then.
Dubé is coming off a highly successful first year in the Washington Capitals organization, helping lead the AHL’s Hershey Bears to their second straight Calder Cup championship. He finished the regular season as Hershey’s second-leading goal scorer after tallying 28 times in 66 games.
He then chipped in an additional 10 points (7g, 3a) in 17 playoff games, including a hat trick in the decisive Game 6 of the Calder Cup Finals. He’ll hope to impress Washington’s decision-makers this fall to ensure he gets more NHL games during the 2024-25 campaign after making his debut with the Capitals last season.
Dubé is joined on the French team by fellow Capitals prospect, goaltender Antoine Keller. Keller served as Quentin Papillon’s backup in the victory.
Vous l’attendiez, la voici !
La composition de notre équipe de France pour le 1er match du TQO face à l’Ukraine 🦾
⏱️ 15h00
📺 https://t.co/ydt5XA3d5g (gratuit)#TeamFranceHockey pic.twitter.com/mNofEScOpJ— Équipes de France Hockey (@Hockey_FRA) August 29, 2024
France moved to the top of Group E, jumping ahead of Latvia, Slovenia, and Ukraine with the win. The round-robin tournament taking place in Riga, Latvia.
France will be right back on the ice against Slovenia on Friday. Slovenia lost their first game to Latvia, 4-2.
