When the Washington Capitals drafted forward Hendrix Lapierre in the first-round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, there were probably not many who thought the 22nd overall pick would make his NHL debut just a year later. And after making the Capitals’ Opening Night roster, the 19-year old scored his first NHL goal on a beautiful feed from line-mate T.J. Oshie.
With the Caps having gone up 2-0 against the New York Rangers just 24 seconds earlier, Oshie corralled the puck into the offensive zone and going one-on-one with Rangers defender Jarrod Tinordi, dropped the puck back to a streaking Lapierre, who put the puck past Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev for his first NHL tally; Conor Sheary also picked up an assist on the play.
OMG LAPPY GOAL! pic.twitter.com/8JVyK2By2Y
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 14, 2021
The goal put the Capitals ahead 3-0 and marked Oshie’s second point of the game, having scored himself in the first period. The goal came in front of a packed house at Capital One Arena that included Lapierre’s family and girlfriend.
AND THE FAM’S ALL HERE 😍 pic.twitter.com/DFZWmxyHB4
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 14, 2021
Lapierre becomes the first teenager to score his first NHL goal in a Caps uniform since Andre Burakovsky on October 9, 2014, also in his NHL debut. Lapierre joins an exclusive list in Capitals franchise history with his first NHL marker.
Other Capitals teenagers to score in their debuts include:
Scott Stevens
Mike Siltala
Chris Valentine
Bobby Carpenter
Nelson Burton https://t.co/Yh0UIkfshi— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) October 14, 2021
By Michael Fleetwood