“He’s figured out that he can still play that 200-foot game, be on the right side, play good defense, and he’ll create more offense. That’s what he’s doing now,” Derek King
In some ways, there was something fitting about the Hershey Bears, the most historic and decorated franchises in the American Hockey League, closing the curtain on the Bridgeport Islanders. This was the swan song for the Islanders, one last chance to win before the team relocated to Hamilton, Ontario. It seems like a storybook ending with the team going on a heater to secure one more home playoff game and set themselves up for a run, something they’ve never had in Bridgeport.
The Islanders ran into a team with a history of winning and coming up clutch in the playoffs. Even with a new-look Bears team, the mystique and significance of the Hershey franchise manage to create new stars and heroes for a team that has had plenty of them.
It’s what happened in Game One of the series as David Gucciardi, a rookie defenseman with only three goals in the regular season, scored the game-winner late in the third period. The Bears stole the first game of the series behind a strong defense and great play in the net from Clay Stevenson, winning it 2-0. Then came Game Two, where the offense woke up and shut the door on the Islanders with a 5-2 victory.
The last two games show how far the Bears have come since the start of the season. They stumbled at the start and looked like a new-look young team that wasn’t built to win the Calder Cup. They are coming into form at the right time with great play on both ends. The team has come a long way, and Andrew Cristall is a skater who has come a long way since the season began. “He’s figured out that he can still play that 200-foot game, be on the right side, play good defense, and he’ll create more offense. That’s what he’s doing now,” Derek King noted after the Game Two win. The rookie was a standout in the victory and lately has looked like a top prospect in the Washington Capitals system.
The Skill Was Always There For Cristall & It Was On Display in Game Two
From the start of the season, Cristall showed an electric playmaking ability on the wing. He had the speed and skill to set up scoring chances and find open skaters in the offensive zone. On top of that, he has a shot that was tough to stop. “Somehow, I call him a little rat, because he does some things,” King mentioned after the game, noting all the details in his offense that make him great.
His scoring ability led the Bears to a Game Two win. Cristall scored the first goal of the game with an Ilya Protas one-timer that he fired to the back of the net. Then he scored the Bears' third goal on the breakaway with a few great moves, giving them a 3-1 lead and ultimately becoming the game-winner.
The skill allowed Cristall to dominate in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and made him a player everyone wanted to watch in his rookie season. The rest of his game improvement will turn him into an NHLer. “He’s got to learn to play that 200-foot game, and you get mad at him because maybe he’s on the wrong side of the puck or he’s stick checking but then you look at the scoresheet, and he’s got two goals and four points, so how can you argue about it?” King added afterwards.
Cristall’s Defense is Setting Up His Offense
What made the second goal rewarding was that it came from great defense. It came off a turnover and a lead pass by Bogdan Trineyev to lead to a breakaway and a highlight goal. “They were jumping up the ice, and we had everybody back, and Bogey makes an awesome play through the guy's stick, and I was off to the races,” Cristall stated after the game.
King and the Bears' coaching staff have had their frustrations with Cristall, from his struggles on defense to rookie mistakes. King particularly understands the frustration and the life of a skilled player who doesn’t feel the need to play defense. “I always say don’t cheat the game. I tried it many times in my career, and it doesn’t work. It will never work.” In the recent game, Cristall didn’t cheat the game, and it allowed him to get rewarded with two goals.
It’s not just the playoffs either. Cristall has matured throughout the season and has improved all facets of his game, becoming a great player. “At the start of the year, if you look at the video of my clips and games, it’s a night and day difference,” Cristall noted after the final game of the regular season, adding, “I feel confident and comfortable in situations that maybe prior I wasn’t.” The young winger is feeling more confident in the AHL, and the coaching staff is more confident in him as well. It’s a combination that is leading to success on the ice and has the Bears looking at the big picture and a possible playoff run.
Cristall, Protas & Trineyev Are Forming A Top Line For Hershey
The Cristall and Protas duo was pivotal for the Bears all season. The two rookies led the team in points and have been great on the offensive end, whether they’ve been on the same line or split up to add depth to the forward group.
Cristall and Protas have been on the same line for the playoffs, with Trineyev joining them on the other wing. Trineyev isn’t a prospect per se at 24 years old but he’s developed into a top scorer for the Bears, especially in the playoffs with a team-leading five goals in 2025. Along with the scoring, he’s been great on the defensive end, starting his AHL career as a penalty killer before developing a scoring touch.
The trio gives King a line he can use in all situations, and it’s what he’s done in the playoffs. The three were on the ice late in Game One with Protas finding the empty net to seal the 2-0 win. They were on the ice when the team was hemmed in their zone, fighting off a desperate Islanders team. That said, King won’t only rely on his top line or look for matchups. “Yeah, I just rolled them. I try not to match lines. I think it takes away from the rhythm of the game,” he mentioned after Game Two.
The Bears are coming into form for the playoffs, and the maturity of the prospects is one reason why but the team as a whole has improved on the bad habits that set them back early in the season. “The urgency is a big reason why we’re cleaning up a little bit of those mistakes,” Sam Bitten mentioned after the recent game. The Bears have cleaned things up right in time for a matchup against the Providence Bruins or the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, two teams that will require minimal mistakes to beat them.