Andrew Cristall registered five points (3g, 2a) in the Kelowna Rockets’ 9-1 victory over the Regina Pats, Saturday.
Before the game was halfway over, the 19-year-old winger had already recorded his first hat trick of the WHL season and assisted on two other goals.
The five-point effort was Cristall’s second in his last five games and boosted his season point total to 47 points (18g, 29a) in 18 games. Cristall’s huge night sees him move into second in the WHL in scoring, eight points behind Gavin McKenna, despite playing nine fewer games than McKenna this year. His 2.61 point-per-game rate still leads both the WHL and the CHL overall.
After kicking his night off with the primary assist on Hiroki Gojsic’s goal to make the game 2-1 just 5:09 into the first period, Cristall grabbed his first goal 4:22 later. The Rockets forced a turnover behind Regina’s net, Cristall snuck into the high-scoring slot area, and made easy work of a quick one-time chance.
Cristall found the back of the net again 3:30 into the second period to give the Rockets a 6-1 advantage. The 2023 second-round draft selection intercepted a pass at the top of Kelowna’s defensive zone and used a burst of speed to split Regina’s defense. Cristall was tripped while driving the net but still managed to slide the puck past goaltender Kelton Pyne.
He completed his hat trick 3:06 later, whipping a wrister off the bar and in from the right faceoff circle. Cristall also provided the secondary assist on a goal from team captain Max Graham.
Over an entire 68-game WHL season, Cristall would be on pace for 178 points (68g, 110a). He has incredibly few modern peers to compare that sort of season to, as the last WHL skater to record over 2.6 points per game was Rob Brown (3.37) during the 1986-87 campaign for the Kamloops Blazers. The only present comparable season comes from Cristall’s good friend, Connor Bedard, who put up 2.51 points per game in his draft year for the Pats.
The list of names Cristall is currently outproducing with his age-19 season is astounding. That list includes Bernie Federko, Mark Recchi, Theo Fleury, Bobby Clarke, Taylor Hall, Lanny McDonald, Mark Stone, Brayden Point, Leon Draisaitl, Glenn Anderson, and Sam Reinhart.
Cristall’s offensive explosion has clearly turned heads in the Washington Capitals organization. Tim Barnes, the team’s Director of Hockey Analytics, recently reacted to talk of Cristall’s current hot streak on his X account.
“We don’t have good data going back very far, but it would take balls to bet Cristall becoming less than a first liner right now,” Barnes tweeted.
