Hendrix Lapierre helps Capitals dominate Kraken at five-on-five: ‘He had some really good shifts’
Hendrix Lapierre didn’t end up on the scoresheet, but he arguably had one of the strongest games of his NHL career Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken.
Skating with Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson on the left wing of the second line, Lapierre gave the Capitals 10 minutes and 47 seconds of dependable, if not dominant, hockey. The Capitals held positive differentials in shot attempts (+15), shots on goal (+9), scoring chances (+10), and high-danger chances (+5) with the 23-year-old forward on the ice.
However, I don’t feel like that completely captures his night, so let’s put it another way.
Hendrix Lapierre’s night at five-on-five
- Capitals shot attempts: 20-5 (80%)
- Capitals scoring chances: 10-0 (100%)
- Capitals high-danger chances: 5-0 (100%)
- Capitals expected goals-for percentage: 95.36%
Lapierre managed the dominant process stats despite starting 10 of his 13 shifts outside of the offensive zone. He also had three individual shot attempts himself, which included one high-danger chance and one scoring chance. He also threw one hit and went 2-for-2 in the faceoff dot.
“I thought he had some really good shifts with his linemates,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said after the game. “Just had the puck more. He was around the puck more. Playing with those guys with Mikey and Willy, a little bit worried early on, but then they found their footing. They had a couple of really good shifts that I think gave them a little bit of confidence and some momentum.”
Despite having so much success, Lapierre barely saw the ice in the third period, receiving only two shifts and one minute of TOI at the start of the stanza. Carbery shortened his bench after Ethen Frank took a hooking penalty, and the Kraken scored shortly after their power play ended to narrow the score to 3-1 with 16:10 remaining.
“In the third, it sort of gets a little bit lost just based on they start to push,” Carbery explained. “We take that penalty, and you can feel the momentum change in that game. So then we go to three [forward lines], and he sort of gets lost a little bit in the shuffle, but I liked his game today.”
Lapierre’s big night on the wing comes after he suited up as the team’s third-line center to start the season. However, after an uneven start, Lapierre yielded the spot to Justin Sourdif against the Kraken.
It remains to be seen if Carbery keeps the same lineup on Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets with Pierre-Luc Dubois potentially returning from injury, but the statistics under the hood suggest keeping Lapierre’s line together might be worth another shot.
