HERSHEY, PA — Andrew Cristall has officially arrived in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Capitals’ talented second-round pick from the 2023 NHL Draft scored twice in Game 2, helping the Hershey Bears complete the sweep of the Bridgeport Islanders and officially end the Isles’ tenure in Connecticut.
Cristall scored once in the first period and again in the second — his first professional playoff goals.
Andrew Cristall’s first playoff goal
Cristall’s first goal came just 4:10 into the first period. Bears defenseman Jon McDonald threw a soft shot on net that rebounded off Islanders goaltender Marcus Hogberg right to Ilya Protas. The AHL Rookie of the Year then slid a slick feed to Cristall, who buried a shot from the slot.
“I think that was a focal point of trying to get one early and get the crowd into it,” Cristall said postgame. “It was a really hard-working shift by everybody on the ice, and I was fortunate to be on the back end of it.”
Andrew Cristall’s second playoff goal
Cristall showed off his hands to score his second of the night, 12:44 into the second period, to put the Bears up 3-1. Bogdan Trineyev laid out a perfect stretch pass to his linemate, who came in all alone on Hogberg and beat the netminder with a sweet move to his backhand.
“They were jumping up the ice, and we had everybody back, Bogey makes an awesome play through the guy’s stick, fed me, and I was off to the races,” Cristall said. “It was a super great play, and it took everybody on that one.”
After Cristall scored, an extremely excited Ilya Protas jumped hard into the glass, tackling Cristall to the ice. The celebration was reminiscent of when Alex Ovechkin jumped into Sergei Fedorov after the latter scored in Game 7 to eliminate the New York Rangers in the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“I saw Pro coming down, and it’s a big kid jumping right into me,” Cristall said. “I went down with him, so it was pretty funny, but it’s pretty cool.”
Ovechkin, coincidentally, was in attendance at the game with Aliaksei Protas, cheering on the team’s young players, including the younger Protas.
Cristall finished the game with his two goals and four shots. His line, Hershey’s top trio consisting of him, Protas, and Trineyev, combined for seven points (4g, 3a) in the short two-game series sweep.
“Well, obviously, he’s got a knack for just putting up points,” head coach Derek King said. “I call him a little rat because he does some things. He’s got to learn to play that 200-foot game. You get mad at him because he’s maybe on the wrong side of the puck, or he’s stick-checking, and then you look on the score sheet after, he’s got two goals, two assists, four points. So, how can you argue about it?
“But he’s playing much harder. He’s being more physical on the wall, protecting pucks, being strong, getting the pucks out, and getting them in when he should. And then he’s still getting his points. So now he knows that if he plays a 200-foot game, he’s still going to get his cookies.”
Hershey will now wait to find out the series winner between the Charlotte Checkers and the Springfield Thunderbirds. If Charlotte wins, the Bears will play the first-place Providence Bruins. If Springfield rallies, the Bears will play the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
