The Capitals rising star is among the NHL's best freshmen since his return to Washington in February.
WASHINGTON — Hendrix Lapierre knows there are no guarantees at the highest level. That's why the Washington Capitals forward stays modest as he shrugs off his hot streak in his latest recall to the big club, chalking up his increased production to getting to the right places at the right times.
But for Lapierre, it goes so much deeper than that, as he's thrived on his way to becoming the Capitals' top-line center over this latest stretch.
Besides Logan Stankoven, who has played in one more game, Lapierre leads all rookies in scoring with five goals and two assists for seven points in six games since coming back up from Hershey near the end of February. He's also a plus-3 and leads the league's freshmen in points per game (1.17) over that stretch.
“Honestly just couple good bounces so far. I try to be in the good areas too, like in the goalie’s paint or whatever, just get some rebounds or some tips or whatever that might be," Lapierre said. "But yeah I think just with my confidence and my speed and stuff, I can create things and right now I’m getting the good bounces because I’m being in the good areas. So just keep it going I guess.”
On the Capitals, he is the team's leading scorer since his call-up and is tied with linemate Alex Ovechkin for the team lead in shots at 5-on-5. He also ranks in the top-10 for expected goals-for percentage (50.98), scoring chances for (32) and high-danger goals for (5) over this recent stretch.
"We need that," John Carlson said of young players like Lapierre contributing. "Obviously, they're capable of that, and that's what's expected of them. They've been really good as of late: pushing to play, skating hard, and they've had a huge effect on the game in the last five or seven games."
Beyond the numbers, though, Lapierre has taken his game to the next level. He is playing with more speed and grit, getting to the dirty areas of the ice and making good decisions with the puck. He's able to maintain possession and is using his high hockey IQ to his advantage, helping him generate several high-quality chances.
"He looks way more confident, his skating, he's done a way better job of utilizing that each and every night consistently," head coach Spencer Carbery said of Lapierre, adding, "His skating and him being really confident to hold onto the puck and not just give it up right away, I think those are the things that jump out. And then just being really smart. Usually for a young player, when they come in and play NHL games, they do two or three or four things a game that (lead to mistakes)... there was hardly any of those situations with him."
It's been a huge boost for Washington, who is 7-2-1 in the last 10 games and has since promoted Lapierre to be Ovechkin's first-line center. The two have complemented each other well, with Aliaksei Protas being a welcome addition on the opposite wing.
With Lapierre, Ovechkin's goals-for percentage has gone up from 34.72 to 55.56, while the duo also has a high-danger goals-for percentage of 66.67. The numbers are promising in a small sample size, and Lapierre believes there's room to improve even more.
“It helps for sure (to have chemistry with Ovechkin)," Lapierre said. "I think we’ve been okay, but I think we can be even better. We’ve been scoring and stuff, but I know we can have another gear, me, O and Pro, so big road trip coming and five really important games. So hopefully, we’ll have a really good game to start and then we can kinda focus after that.”
For Ovechkin, watching Lapierre and the team's younger players continue to get more ice time is exciting for him and the group.
"It's good for them. They gonna have ice time, they gonna have that experience. For future, it's good," Ovechkin said.
The Capitals face a big test as they head to Western Canada for a crucial five-game road swing that carries a lot of weight in the ongoing playoff race, and Lapierre is looking forward to continuing to expand on his game and contribute to the team's success.
“Young guys try to push the older guys and the older guys, they’ve been there, they want to push us too to be like really good," Lapierre said of his latest tour of D.C.. "So I think we got a good mix right now, it’s fun, everyone’s contributing. As I said, the big test is coming now, we got a really, really important road trip."