Andrew Cristall notched a personal milestone on the same night Alex Ovechkin played his 1,500th career game in Washington DC.
During the first period of the Hershey Bears’ matchup against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Cristall scored the first goal of his AHL career, sending a beautiful one-timer from the right circle past goaltender Carson Bjarnason.
The power-play goal at 14:47 was assisted by Alex Suzdalev and Calle Rosén. The primary assist also marked Suzdalev’s first career AHL point.
“Me and Suzy are pretty good friends, so I knew that on his end, he was going to find me, and I kind of like [had] a little give-and-go with him, and I knew the second I passed to him, he was giving it right back,” Cristall said postgame. “I think it was just a good little chemistry there, and glad it worked out.”
Cristall also registered a secondary assist earlier in the period on a Bogdan Trineyev goal. The Russian forward finished on his backhand after being sprung on a breakaway by Matt Strome. The goal, at 6:32, marked the Bears’ first shot of the game.
With a goal and an assist in the first period, Cristall notched his second career multi-point game in the AHL. He also did so in his AHL debut on October 11 after assisting on two Ethen Frank goals. His first assist marked his first professional point.
Hershey would go on to win 4-3 after Ilya Protas scored the game-winning shootout goal.
