Andrew Cristall has had a whirlwind of a past week. The Washington Capitals prospect made his NHL preseason debut, tallied an assist against the Detroit Red Wings, was sent back to the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, and dressed for the Rockets against the Wenatchee Wild all in a span of three days.
Given how hectic that short span of time was for him you’d think he might have a slow start in his first game back in Canadian major junior. Think again. Cristall put up three points in his WHL season debut and was awarded first star of the game.
Andrew Cristall’s baaaaaaaaaaaack.#allcaps X @Capitals
The Office, Season 5, Episode 21 (Cristall’s version) pic.twitter.com/l3R8d4rCSZ
— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) September 30, 2023
Cristall arrived back to Kelowna in style and was immediately placed on the team’s top line with forwards Max Graham and Dylan Wightman. It took him approximately three shifts to get right back on the scoreboard, a place he is very used to being after notching 95 points (39g, 56a) in 54 games last year.
The 18-year-old playmaker put together a sweet give-and-go play with Tij Iginla, Jarome’s son, to get Kelowna on the board first in the game.
Tij Iginla (#2024NHLDraft) finishes the give-and-go play with Andrew Cristall (#ALLCAPS) to give the Kelowna Rockets a 1-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/v2vMlRUAGA
— J.D. Burke (@JDylanBurke) October 1, 2023
With the Rockets now down 3-2 in the third period after two quick goals from the Wild, Cristall spurred on a comeback. First, with his second assist of the night he showcased the hard work he put in over the summer to improve his skating and get faster.
Cristall gathered the puck at the left circle in his own defensive zone and turned the jets on, racing up the ice as a one-man, power-play zone entry. He then made a slick cross-ice pass to Turner McMillen who was robbed by the opposing netminder but had his rebound poked home by Michael Cicek.
Andrew Cristall (#ALLCAPS) only gets a secondary assist on this Michael Cicek goal to tie the game 3-3 for Kelowna, but this is a really nice sequence for him. pic.twitter.com/lCwUmKtlrR
— J.D. Burke (@JDylanBurke) October 1, 2023
Cristall then helped complete the comeback as he put away the eventual game-winning goal just over three minutes later.
The 2023 second-round draft pick slipped a pinpoint wrister by the Wild goaltender from a bad angle. “It’s getting hot in here, time to turn on the AC,” Kelowna play-by-play man Regan Bartel said.
Andrew Cristall (#ALLCAPS) picks up his third point of the night (1G 2A) with the seeing eye shot from a bad angle to give Kelowna a 4-3 lead over Wenatchee late. pic.twitter.com/5GRsnYknhK
— J.D. Burke (@JDylanBurke) October 1, 2023
Cristall missed just one WHL regular season game due to being in both Rookie Camp and the Caps’ main Training Camp over the past few weeks. Next up for the talented prospect is two games on the road this week against the Prince George Cougars.
Last season, Cristall put up 12 points (1g, 11a) in just five games against the Cougars.
Headline photo: Katie Adler/RMNB
