Cristall's cross-check to the face puts him on Player Safety's radar

Capitals prospect Andrew Cristall took a five-minute cross-checking major and a game misconduct in the second period of Monday's 5-2 preseason win over the Flyers in Hershey. Per Russian Machine Never Breaks, Flyers defenseman Hunter McDonald had just buried Ryan Leonard along the boards. Cristall answered by putting his stick into McDonald's face.

No match penalty was called, per Scouting the Refs, so the officials didn't see intent to injure. The site notes similar cross-checks to the head have drawn one-game suspensions before. McDonald stayed in the game. Spencer Carbery, per USA Today: "His heart's in the right place. He's trying to stick up for one of his brothers."

Philadelphia had its own problem. Center Denver Barkey left early in the second with a lower-body injury and didn't return, per a Yahoo Sports game story. Rick Tocchet had no update afterward.

Ferda read: sticking up for your linemate is the job. Doing it with the shaft of your stick, in a preseason game, while you're fighting for the last forward spot, is how you spend October in Hershey. Player Safety can decide the rest.