Washington Capitals centers have struggled to score this season, especially lately. Justin Sourdif has no goals in his last 16 games, Dylan Strome has 3 in his last 23, and Nic Dowd has 2 in his last 31. But Hendrix Lapierre’s struggles to light the lamp are on another stratosphere.
Lapierre’s last goal came on February 26, 2024, as part of a 6-3 thrashing of the Ottawa Senators. Now, 78 games and 673 days later, Lapierre is fighting to end one of the longest goalless streaks of the current era.
Since the 2004–05 lockout, only eight forwards have gone longer without scoring. Most of them were enforcers. All of them are retired.
Longest active goalless streaks among forwards
| Forward | Active goalless streak | Retired |
|---|---|---|
| Wade Belak | 142 | Yes |
| Raitis Ivanāns | 103 | Yes |
| Tim Sestito | 101 | Yes |
| Riley Cote | 100 | Yes |
| Jeff Hoggan | 98 | Yes |
| John Zeiler | 87 | Yes |
| Colton Orr | 86 | Yes |
| Krys Barch | 84 | Yes |
| Hendrix Lapierre | 78 | No |
| Kurtis MacDermid | 78 | No |
Lapierre is tied at 78 games with the only other active player on the list, Senators fourth-liner Kurtis MacDermid. MacDermid has been in and out of the lineup this season, suiting up just 16 times, far less than Lapierre, who has played 36.
Lapierre has only six assists to show for those 36 games, but his possession stats look much stronger. The Caps have outscored opponents 13 to 11 during his five-on-five shifts, which have mostly been spent in the offensive zone; the Caps control 58.7 percent of expected goals, in the 97th percentile among forwards. Head coach Spencer Carbery knows the game flows in the right direction when Lapierre’s on the ice.
“I’ve liked his game for the most part,” Carbery said of Lapierre’s season on Monday. “I know it doesn’t show up from the production standpoint. When you dive into the underlying numbers, though, they’re pretty good. He’s been in the lineup every night.”
Although he’s getting a sweater, Lapierre isn’t jumping over the boards much. He averages 9:09 of ice time per game, the third-lowest among all NHL forwards who have played at least 30 games this season. Carbery would like to see Lapierre do more with that time before he gets more.
“I think what I’m looking for from him is to just continue to earn that opportunity with quality shifts, and sometimes it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not like one game. It may take ten games.”
To break through, Lapierre will have to convert his chances into actual goals. He does not rank well among forwards in attempt volume (18th percentile in shots on goal), but he compares well in measurements that account for quality, such as expected goals (82nd) and high-danger chances (71st).
Lapierre individual as percentile ranks (stats as of 12/29)
| Offense rate | Percentile among Fs |
|---|---|
| Goals | 0 |
| Expected goals | 82nd |
| On-goal shots | 18th |
| Attempts | 28th |
| Scoring chances | 65th |
| High-danger chances | 71st |
(Only one forward has generated more expected goals without scoring than Lapierre: Phillip Danault. The Caps were rumored to be interested in Danault before LA traded him to Montreal.)
Looking for answers to the slump, Carbery pointed to special teams, where the Caps are struggling overall, and where Lapierre has scarcely been used – six minutes on the power play and none on the penalty kill.
“He’s not playing special teams, which we would love to get him involved,” Carbery said. “He’s not a penalty kill guy, never really has been at the pro level. We need to find a way at some point to get him involved, I think, in a special team, specifically on the power play.”
In his six minutes of power-play time, Lapierre’s squad had a rate of 39 high-danger chances per hour. For comparison, Jason Robertson’s power-play unit in Dallas puts up the same number. They rank second in the league.
Special teams might be the opportunity for Lapierre to break through. If he can’t do so soon, he’ll start sneaking up on Craig Adams, who went 119 games between goals from December 2008 to October 2010.
