Saturday Was One Of The Biggest Games Of Hendrix Lapierre's Life — And He Made It Count For The Capitals

The 21-year-old is the youngest player currently on the roster and seized a small opportunity that will make future decisions more difficult.

WASHINGTON — Washington Capitals center Hendrix Lapierre wears a big smile as he sits in his stall at Capital One Arena on Saturday night, with teammate Nic Dowd coming to his aid as the press swarms around him.

"Give him room, give him room!" Dowd joked, then after a pause, "Okay, he's available!"

Dowd was on standby for the start of Lapierre's presser, cheering him on and chiming in on his performance. He wasn't the only one wowed by it, as Lapierre's three-point night (one goal, two assists) helped Washington escape with a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"The guys recognize when you singlehandedly get the team two points, and that's what happened," head coach Spencer Carbery said of Lapierre and his third line of Aliaksei Protas and Sonny Milano.

Lapierre picked up two assists — the first of his NHL career — on goals from Protas and Milano before going on a breakaway in the third period and dishing a backhander past Elvis Merzlikins. It was his first pro goal since he scored in Game 7 of the Calder Cup Final and his first NHL goal since Oct. 11, 2021, his league debut.

"I saw the other guy and was like, 'Oh, shit, better get a shot off,'" Lapierre laughed.

But on a more serious note, that shot — whether it stemmed from pressure from the defense or his high hockey IQ — was a vital one for the 21-year-old, who had gotten the call to return to the lineup only because Evgeny Kuznetsov was sick.

"It's huge for us," captain Alex Ovechkin said of young players like Lapierre getting on the scoresheet. "They stepping up, set the tone and I think it's very important for us that you don't know what to expect from us."

Lapierre is aware of the circumstances and knows that the team's center depth is stacked to the point where Kuznetsov's return from a temporary bug will likely lead him back to the press box. However, a game like that at least shows that he's knocking on the door, and makes it more difficult to send him back down to Hershey when the time comes to make those decisions.

"It's pretty special. It's only one game. I don't want to be too excited. I'll enjoy it for tonight, but tomorrow's a new day, gotta get back to work," Lapierre explained after the game. "It was obviously a super fun time playing with those guys so super grateful and I'm pretty happy."

For now, he's just taking in as much as he can while impressing the leadership group along the way.

"It helps a lot if I have questions, lots of guys in this room who can answer them. Sometimes in practice, I just like to kind of sit and look at what guys do that make them so good," Lapierre said. "Little plays and stuff like that. It's obviously a fun time. Guys are having a lot of fun in this room and we just gotta keep going."