Andrew Cristall was ejected from Monday’s Washington Capitals–Philadelphia Flyers preseason game in Hershey after sticking up for teammate Ryan Leonard.
The mess started when Flyers prospect defenseman Hunter McDonald cleaned Leonard out hard into the boards. Cristall immediately skated over and cross-checked McDonald in the face, sparking a melee in the Capitals’ offensive zone.
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Cristall was assessed a five-minute major for cross-checking and a 10-minute game misconduct, ending his night with 7:07 remaining in the second period.
Cristall was making his preseason debut for the Capitals and is battling for one of the Capitals’ final forward spots on their Opening Night roster.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety could intervene here because of the severity and intentionality of the cross-check up high. While McDonald was shaken up and slow to get up, however, he did not appear to be injured and stayed in the game. Leonard was also unharmed by the initial hit.
Cristall’s frontier justice came after Leonard scored earlier in the night, sniping a shot past Flyers goaltender Joseph Woll with 42 seconds remaining in the first period to put the Capitals up 2-1.
Leonard signed an eight-year extension worth $10.5 million per season earlier in the month.
