Bronze medal game ends season for five BU recruits

A day after losing in the IIHF World Championships semifinal to Finland, Team USA routed Canada 10-3 in the bronze medal game in Grand Forks. Clayton Keller had three assists, including a highlight-reel, spin-o-rama pass to Kieffer Bellows to give the U.S. a 3-1 lead. The goal was Bellows’ 50^th of the season, making him only the fifth NTDP player to reach fifty in one campaign.  Jake Oettinger turned aside 29 shots, including a penalty shot, to gain his fourth victory of the tournament.

USA's Clayton Keller with a superb spin-o-rama pass to Kieffer Bellows for a 2-0 lead on Canada (h/t @ChrisDilks) pic.twitter.com/spBliuVH5N

— The Cauldron (ICYMI) (@CauldronICYMI) April 24, 2016

Keller finished the tournament with 14 points (4G, 10A), one behind leader Tyson Jost. He was named to the tournament all-star team and selected as MVP by accredited media.  Keller was selected as one of the three top US players in the tournament, while Dante Fabbro earned similar honors for Canada. He was third in scoring among defensemen and third in assists with 8.

● USA Hockey recap and box score

● Video highlights

● IIHF recap  and stat leaders

● SB Nation recap

● Keller post-game comments (video, begins at 1:20)

Final season stats for the five BU recruits who played in the tournament:

Clayton Keller           37-70-107

Kieffer Bellows         50-31-81

Chad Krys                 3-26-29

Jake Oettinger          2.38, .908 25-8-1 record,

Dante Fabbro           14-61-75

►The Hockey Writers: The future is very bright for BU

Next season’s out-of-conference schedule is taking shape. BU opens the year at Colgate’s new rink, followed by a two-game series at Denver. Other opponents include Michigan, Quinnipiac, Yale, Harvard and Union.

Looking back

The Pittsburgh Penguins, with Mike Sullivan behind the bench and Nick Bonino anchoring the second line, advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, eliminating the Rangers in six games. Also advancing were Matt Nieto and San Jose, which ousted Los Angeles in five games.

Charlie Coyle and the Minnesota Wild were eliminated by Dallas in six games.  Kevin Shattenkirk and the Blues play a seventh game with Chicago tonight, while Colin Wilson and Nashville trail Anaheim, three games to two.