Hendrix Lapierre took the first step in his quest to return to the Washington Capitals’ full time roster. He recorded three points and was arguably the best player on the ice in the Caps’ 5-2 preseason-opening victory against the Boston Bruins, Sunday.
The 23-year-old centerman’s stat line was impressive, finishing the night with a goal and two assists in 16:43 of ice time. He also had a plus/minus of plus-four along with one hit, one blocked shot, and two shots on goal.
“There’s no one that wants it more than [Lapierre] and he’s so determined and so focused,” head coach Spencer Carbery praised postgame. “You’re happy to see him have some success in the first step of the preseason and hopefully he can just build off that.”
Lapierre’s tally came in the first period, set up by Anthony Beavillier from behind the Bruins net, to give the Caps an early 2-1 lead.
He also assisted on a Sonny Milano goal in the first period and a Ryan Chesley tally in the second. After regulation concluded, Lapierre was the only player from either team to score in the practice shootout.
His aggressive backchecking helped the Caps dominate the boards and keep the Bruins from developing much on offense. He quite literally gave blood, sweat and tears for the team at TD Garden, taking a puck to the face in the second period and heading to the locker room for repairs.
“I want to make this team really bad,” Lapierre told reporters at training camp on Friday. “I know what I can do, I know what I can accomplish, I just have to put it on display.”
Lapierre made the Caps’ opening night roster out of training camp last year but was sent down to AHL Hershey after 27 lackluster games. The 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs MVP took the demotion as a learning experience and is more determined than ever to redeem himself this year.
He finished the 2024-25 campaign with 32 points in 32 games with Hershey. The Bears fell short of a Calder Cup three-peat after losing in the quarterfinals but combined with his abbreviated stint in DC, Lapierre feels it’s all motivation.
“Obviously with last year I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder and I want to show what I’m made of,” he said Friday. “I think it’s just learning from your mistakes, learning from what went wrong last year… I don’t have a ton of experience in pro hockey. I’ve learned, I’ve made mistakes, so throughout all that you kind of figure out what it takes.”
Lapierre took his training seriously over the summer. He said he focused on rounding out his game and adding some more physicality to the mix.
“[I] worked on being a little more gritty, winning one-on-one battles, [being] a shooting threat,” he told reporters at camp. “I think in general it’s about being a little more tougher… I want to prove I can be tough to play against.”
Carbery believes Lapierre is on the right track and can notice a difference in his game from last season.
“He had a good camp. You can tell he looks a little quicker, there’s some jump there,” he added Sunday night. “He’s trying to really focus on being as hard as he possibly can on face offs, on low battles, on the net front, getting to the net when it’s his turn to do that and also being able to use his speed and creativity and all the offensive tools we know he has.”
