WHL Playoffs: Andrew Cristall returns with hat trick, Spokane Chiefs take 3-1 series lead over Vancouver with 6-2 win

Andrew Cristall has had an adventurous season.

He started with a stellar NHL training camp with the Washington Capitals, where he nearly made the team. He was then traded midseason from the 18-win Kelowna Rockets to the 45-win Spokane Chiefs and finished the season as the WHL points leader. 

His postseason has been a whirlwind as well – two goals in Game 1 before earning a misconduct in Game 2, which triggered a suspension for Game 3. 

After something of a lackluster team performance in that Game 3 loss, Cristall provided a necessary spark, and in doing so put the Chiefs on the brink of advancing.

Cristall recorded a hat trick, generating eight shots on goal, and the Chiefs defeated the Giants 6-2 in Game 4 of the Western Hockey League Western Conference series at the Arena on Thursday.

The Chiefs, leading 3-1, can claim the series in Game 5 on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Arena.

“I definitely had some more juice in the tank (after sitting out Wednesday),” Cristall said. “I was glad to go out there and make a difference.”

“He was rested, right?” Chiefs coach Brad Lauer joked. “But no, he had some jump tonight.” 

The Chiefs didn’t have much time to mope about Wednesday’s one-goal loss, and Lauer was encouraged about the performance.

“I think was nice to get right back at it,” Lauer said. “We had, you know, 12 hours to sleep on it, and then we got right back at it. I think it was a good game for us. I thought we responded very well.”

After going 0 for 7 on the power play over the first three games of the series, the Chiefs went 3 for 8 in Game 4. Spokane outshot its visitor 33-23.

“I thought we created some looks when we were 0 for 7,” Cristall said. “Maybe get weren’t getting the bounces. So, you know, glad we could put a few in tonight.”

Goalie Dawson Cowan made 21 saves, forward Chase Harrington scored twice, captain Berkly Catton had three assists and rookie Mathis Preston had a goal and two assists.

It was the Chiefs most complete win in weeks. 

“I would agree, which is good to see,” Lauer said. “You know, credit to the kids – they came ready to play tonight. It’s one step closer to where we want to get to. But it was a good game by everybody.”

It didn’t start out great.

For the second night in a row and third time in four games, Vancouver struck first. With Chiefs defenseman Will McIsaac draped all over him, Maxim Muranov chipped a shot toward the Spokane goal that somehow got through Dawson Cowan to make it 1-0.

But the Chiefs picked up their goalie in a big way.

The public address hadn’t even announced the Vancouver goal when Cristall let go of a wrist shot from the left-wing circle and beat Giants goalie Burke Hood for his third goal of the postseason.

On the next shift, Harrington took a pass from Preston from below the goal line and beat a stunned Hood short side for his first of the playoffs and a 2-1 lead.

The three goals came in a span of 33 seconds.

“We never like giving up the first goal, and it’s something we definitely have to clean up here coming down the stretch of the playoffs,” Cristall said. “But yeah, it was big to get a goal. And then, 20 seconds later or whatever we got another one from (Harrington). So, it was huge.”

With 4:43 left in the period, Sam Oremba took a stick to the face and the Chiefs received a power play – and made good on it. Shea Van Olm dug a puck out of the corner to Catton in the faceoff circle, who flicked it to a wide open Cristall on the far post. Cristall buried it past the scrambling Hood for his second of the game and the Chiefs led 3-1 after one.

Cristall was roughed up on a rush by Mazden Leslie at the start of the second period and the Chiefs went back to the power play. With Cristall recovering, the second unit went out and Preston unleashed a wicked wrist shot from the right point for his fourth goal of the postseason and a 4-1 lead.

“Our power play’s definitely been struggling lately, so to kind of get it kick-started there in today’s game was big for us,” Preston said. 

Later playing at 4-on-4, Van Olm was hauled down by Leslie in the crease for another power play. Cristall took the puck at the left dot from Brayden Crampton, delayed for an opening, then buried it past Hood glove side for his third of the game.

Cristall took his glove off and pointed at his head in celebration as hats rained down upon the ice at the completion of the hat trick.

“I’ve been watching some March Madness and some NBA,” Cristall said of the celebration. “So, I just saw a couple basketball ‘cellies,’ and I thought, you know, if I got it, I would do it. I just kind of had it in the back of my head.”

The Chiefs made it 6-1 a little bit later, just as another Giants penalty was expiring. Preston carried the puck below the goal line and circled back up to the high slot. He sent it on goal, where Owen Martin got a hack at it before Harrington stuffed it in for his second of the game.

Vancouver switched goalies to Brady Smith on the ensuing faceoff.

The Giants kept taking penalties, and the Chiefs kept controlling the puck the remainder of the period. Torretto Marrelli tried to start something on a held puck with 4:58 left in the period, but he found no takers and went to the box for roughing, allowing the Chiefs to take two more minutes off the clock with offensive zone time.

Vancouver made it 6-2 early in the third. But unlike Game 2, when the Chiefs allowed five consecutive third period goals before pulling it out, the Giants couldn’t muster more of a comeback, despite getting a 4-minute power play late in the game.

“(The third period) was much better. It was a very more mature of a period for our group,” Lauer said. “Lesson learned from Game 2 for our guys. We did a much better job of managing the situation we were in and made better decisions with the puck.”

“The message in the room (before the game) was kind of have a bounce-back game,” Preston said. “We obviously were not happy with the last game. But I thought the boys came ready to play and, you know, kind of pulled a little bit life out of them to go up 3-1.”