Hendrix Lapierre did not line up in his regular third-line center position at practice on Monday. Head coach Spencer Carbery subbed him out for the recently recalled Mike Sgarbossa during the team’s line rushes.
The Capitals were back on the ice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex after the Tampa Bay Lightning ended their five-game winning streak on the road Saturday night. The loss to Tampa Bay ended one streak but continued another for Lapierre.
Like the rest of his teammates, Lapierre did not record a point in the 3-0 shutout loss, giving him zero points in seven games to start the year.
Lines
Washington’s 20-man game group has been consistent for the last six games after Carbery inserted Jakub Vrana into the lineup in favor of Sonny Milano and Matt Roy went out injured on Opening Night. The second-year bench boss would not commit to swapping Sgarbossa for Lapierre in Tuesday’s game against the New York Rangers.
“If Sgarbs gets into the lineup, [I want to see] just the same things that he’s shown throughout his career playing on teams that I’ve coached,” Carbery said. “What he did last year, being real reliable, compete, and give us a little bit offensively when the opportunity presents itself.”
Lapierre has played with Vrana and Andrew Mangiapane at five-on-five in all six games. The line has combined for great process stats, with the Capitals seeing 56.5 percent of the shot attempts, 64 percent of the expected goals, 58.4 percent of the scoring chances, and 62 percent of the high-danger chances during their minutes. However, they have yet to score a single goal as a full unit, and Lapierre is a minus-5.
The lack of offensive production comes despite Carbery deploying the line in heavily favorable minutes. Lapierre’s 88.2 percent offensive-zone start percentage is only topped by his linemate Mangiapane’s 90 percent.
“We’ll see where it goes tomorrow,” Carbery said. “We’ve liked McMichael on the wing and with that line combination – we feel like they’ve been very productive. So, having another centerman, if we need to get a different look, we have an option to do that without having to move McMichael.”
Sgarbossa has been hot with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, recording nine points (1g, 8a) in seven games. He is second on the team in scoring, behind only Ivan Miroshnichenko (10), and ranks tied for third in the entire league. The move to the steady, veteran hand may be Carbery’s way of finding some offense from that line, but it could also serve as a wake-up call for Lapierre, which has proven successful with the young center in the past.
Todd Nelson healthy scratched Lapierre for two games during the 2022-23 campaign with the Bears after the 2020 first-round draft pick scuffled mid-season. Hershey went on to win the first of their back-to-back Calder Cups with Lapierre as a permanent fixture on their third line.
Lapierre’s rough start to this season comes after he was named the 2024 AHL playoff MVP, posting 22 points (7g, 15a) in 20 postseason games for the eventual champions. He also played 51 NHL games under Carbery last season, recording a respectable 22 points (8g, 14a).
Sgarbossa also saw his fair share of games with the big club last year, tallying 7 points (4g, 3a) in 25 games for the Caps. He solidified his NHL role enough that Washington kept him on their roster through the trade deadline, making him ineligible for Hershey’s playoff run.
The 32-year-old pivot could make his season debut against the New York Rangers on Saturday night. The Rangers are the lone team in the Eastern Conference with a better points percentage (.813) than the Capitals (.714).
