Hendrix Lapierre had an injury scare after taking a very late, low hit from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Emil Bemstrom on Saturday. The 23-year-old centerman briefly left the Hershey Bears’ road matchup with the Penguins at the 11:05 mark of the first period.
After collecting a loose puck in Hershey’s zone and relaying it up the ice to Mike Vecchione, Lapierre was met by Bemstrom attempting an open-ice hip check. Instead of making hip-to-hip contact, Bemstrom appeared only to impact Lapierre’s left knee, sending the Capitals prospect spiraling to the ice.
When the referees blew the play dead, Ivan Miroshnichenko and Aaron Ness attempted to get retribution for Lapierre but were separated by other Penguins players and the on-ice officials. Justin Nachbaur later took a roughing minor penalty in a scrum with Bemstrom.
Lapierre put no weight on his leg and needed help from Hershey’s training staff to get off the ice and back to the locker room. However, the 2020 first-round draft pick was able to come back for the Bears in the second period and immediately contributed by providing the primary assist on an Alex Limoges power-play goal to tie the game 1-1.
Lapierre’s return is a major sigh of relief for a Bears team ravaged by injury and illness in recent weeks. Hershey came into the contest missing five lineup regulars, an improvement on the eight players who had to miss the team’s last game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Lapierre himself was one of the team’s injured players in late January, missing a game against the Belleville Senators with an upper-body injury.
Head coach Todd Nelson has Lapierre centering the club’s second line with Vecchione and Miroshnichenko on the wings. Lapierre finally scored his first goal of the 2024-25 season in Hershey’s 5-4 victory over the Penguins last Tuesday.
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