Andrew Cristall, one of the Washington Capitals’ top prospects, saw his Kelowna Rockets fall 4-2 to the Vancouver Giants on Sunday. In the game, Cristall saw his remarkable 23-game WHL point streak end after he was unable to get on the scoresheet.
Cristall’s 23-game run was the longest streak of any player in the WHL this season and the longest of his junior career, surpassing his previous best streak of 12 games that he set last year as a 17-year-old. The 4-2 loss marked only the third time in 37 games this season that Cristall hasn’t recorded a point.
The last time before this that Cristall was held without a point in a WHL game, it was not yet Halloween (October 28) and he was just a few weeks removed from playing in his first career NHL preseason game. During his streak, he recorded 45 points (17g, 28a).
Cristall’s production in his 23-game point streak
| Game | Date | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIC @ KEL | 11-3-23 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| RD @ KEL | 11-4-23 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| KEL @ TC | 11-7-23 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| KEL @ VIC | 11-13-23 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| SEA @ KEL | 11-25-23 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| WEN @ KEL | 11-29-23 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| KEL @ VAN | 12-1-23 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| KEL @ SEA | 12-2-23 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| KEL @ REG | 12-9-23 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| KEL @ MJ | 12-12-23 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| KEL @ BDN | 12-13-23 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| KEL @ PA | 12-15-23 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| KEL @ SAS | 12-16-23 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| KEL @ KAM | 12-27-23 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| KAM @ KEL | 12-29-23 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| CGY @ KEL | 12-30-23 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| EDM @ KEL | 1-5-24 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| KEL @ WEN | 1-6-24 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| SEA @ KEL | 1-10-24 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| KEL @ PG | 1-12-24 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| KEL @ PG | 1-13-24 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| POR @ KEL | 1-17-24 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| VAN @ KEL | 1-19-24 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 | 28 | 45 |
Cristall had 12 multi-point and four multi-goal efforts during the 23-game streak including seven games with three points or more. His biggest game came against the Calgary Hitmen on December 30, where the winger had a season-high five points and tallied a hat trick. That crazy game ended 7-6 in Kelowna’s favor with Cristall scoring the game-winning tally.
“It’s not how you draw it up for sure, but you kind of adjust to the game,” Cristall told CHL.com postgame. “The pucks were going in, which was nice and it was definitely a little bit of fun out there.”
The Capitals’ second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft has 73 total points (27g, 46a) on the season.
Cristall’s streak is the longest by a Kelowna player since Brett McLean had points in 24 straight games during the 1996-97 campaign. Only four players in the WHL have matched or bettered a 23-game point streak over the past one-and-a-half seasons. One of those players is Connor Bedard, the 2023 NHL Draft’s number-one overall pick and Chicago Blackhawks All-Star. Bedard had a point in 35 straight games in his final junior season last year.
Cristall, 18, is also tied for fourth in the league in overall scoring. In front of him are a 2022 NHL draft pick in Jagger Firkus (81), a 20-year-old undrafted player in Zac Funk (76), and a player with five more games played than him in Riley Heidt (74). When looking at just the point-per-game rankings, Cristall’s 1.97 scoring rate trails just Firkus (2.08) and 20-year-old Matthew Savoie (2.27).
Over a full 68-game junior regular season, Cristall would be on pace for 134 points. He won’t see all 68 of those games due to his time spent in DC at the start of the year and because of a minor injury that kept him out of the lineup for a short time, but that total would be good for the second-best of any U-19 skater in the WHL since the 2009-10 season. The only player better? Bedard at 143 points from last season.
Cristall and Bedard are good friends, notably starring on the same roller hockey team during the summer. The two British Columbia-born players have a friendship that dates back over a decade.
“[Cristall is] someone I’ve played with since I was five-years-old,” Bedard said at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase in September. “Seeing his development, there’s never a time where he wasn’t producing. You go play against older guys, for him, and just find a way to do it. Playing on a line with him was so fun, and I think that’s kind of what made me think that.
“Washington should be very excited about him. He’s a hell of a player and he’s going to be really exciting to watch.”
Cristall signed his three-year, entry-level deal with the Caps in July and made his NHL preseason debut this past fall against the Detroit Red Wings. In that game, he earned an assist on a Rasmus Sandin power-play goal.
The talented youngster, due to his age, won’t be able to play in the AHL next season due to the CHL-NHL Transfer Agreement. So, unless he surprises and makes the Capitals out of camp, he’ll likely be starring for Kelowna again next year.
