Polls and rankings; Keller shines at World U17s UPDATED

Terriers moved up a notch—from #6 to #5—in the USCHO weekly rankings. In the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, BU also moved up to #5. SB Nation’s latest ranking has the Terriers in the #3 spot.

In Scott McLaughlin's WEEI College Blog Hockey East Power ranking, BU has risen to the top spot.

Evan Rodrigues, who had a three-point night (1G, 2A) in Friday’s win and netminder Matt O’Connor, who turned away 48 of 51 shots, were named to Hockey East’s Weekly Top Performers list

► Hockey East picked Saturday's 2-1 loss to Providence as its Game of the Week and posted this video recap with some different viewing angles from the BU Webcast.

Looking ahead

2016 recruit Clayton Keller’s four-point performance paced Team USA to a convincing 7-1 thumping of Slovakia in the World U17 Challenge in Lambton Shores, Ontario. Defending champion Team USA moves to 2-0-0. Keller scored a power play goal and a short-hander, and assisted on two other goals to earn first-star honors.

In the tournament opener, Keller scored a goal as Team USA doubled up Sweden, 6-3. The 5-9 center from Swansea, Ill., now leads the NTDP U17s in scoring with 21 points (11G, 10A) in 13 games.

► Next up for Team USA is Canada Red on Tuesday with puck drop at 7 p.m. EST. The game can be viewed on a free live-stream  

The NTDP U18s, including 2015 recruits Jordan Greenway and Charlie McAvoy, are headed to Sweden this week for the Four Nations Tournament, with squads from Finland and Switzerland rounding out the field. Team USA takes on the hosts on Wednesday.

2016 recruit Patrick Harper scored the only goal for the Neponset Valley River Rats U18s in a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bulldogs on Saturday. In the River Rats second game on Saturday, Harper assisted on his team’s first goal and the game-winner in the team’s 3-2 win over the Junior Ranger U18s. The 5-8 playmaker from New Canaan, Conn., leads the Mass. Midget Selects Tier 1 U18 league in scoring with a 14-16-30 line in 14 games, despite being one of the league’s youngest players.

2015 recruit Max Letunov's unassisted goal in the Phantoms' 3-1 loss to Muskegon made the USHL Highlights reel for the week. 

Looking back

The St. Louis Dispatch talked with Kevin Shattenkirk about the former Terrier All-American's second-ever game at Madison Square Garden as a pro. The native New Yorker, who grew up going to Ranger games, skated at MSG in the first two Red Hot Hockey games against Cornell in 2007 and 2009. Last night, he assisted on Vladimir Tarasenko's highlight reel goal in the Blues 4-3 shootout win against the Rangers.

Former Terrier Corey Trivino was traded to the Florida Everblades by the Stockton Thunder, for whom he scored 43 points. Trivino began his pro career with Florida in 2012-13.

Women’s Team

(photo by Sarah Fisher, Daily Free Press)

Terriers won their third conference game in four starts on Sunday, rallying past New Hampshire, 4-2, with a pair of juniors leading the way. Sarah Lefort, who led the NCAA in goals last year with 32, scored twice—her fourth and fifth scores.  For the second consecutive game, the game-winner came off Rebecca Russo’s stick.

Freshman Rebecca Leslie’s breakaway goal in the second period gave BU a 1-0 lead after 40 minutes. But the Wildcats struck for a power play goal and an even-strength score early in the third to take the lead. At the 13 minute mark, Lefort knotted the score at 2-2, banging home the rebound of a Kayla Tutino shot.

Two-and-a-half minutes later, Russo broke in on goal from the left wing and beat the Wildcat goalie with a backhander. Lefort sealed the win with an open-netter. Freshman Erin O’Neill stopped 32 shots to earn her third victory.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Video highlights

● Lefort postgame comments

● Daily Free Press recap and analysis

Russo’s heroics in both BU wins earned her HockeyEastOnline’s Warrior Hockey Player of the Week award. Leslie and O’Neil were named to the weekly top performers list

● GoTerriers.com report on Russo

Terriers remained at #6 in the USCHO poll, but curiously dropped from 6th to 7th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.