BU atop USCHO poll; Hockey East honors for Oettinger and Keller

Terriers vaulted into the #1 spot in the USCHO weekly poll, garnering 22 out of 50 first-place votes. #2 Minnesota Duluth had 25 first-place votes, but was edged out by BU for the top ranking. Boston Hockey Blog reports that the last time BU held the #1 spot in the USCHO poll was December 15th 2014. In the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll, BU moved up from #4 to #2, behind the Bulldogs.

Freshman goalie Jake Oettinger has been named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week following a three-win week that included a shutout of BC at Conte Forum. In the three games, Oettinger yielded just two goals—both deflections on power plays. This marked the fourth time he received weekly recognition from Hockey East. The Lakeville, Minnesota native was Defensive Player of the Week (Dec. 5) and Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week twice (Oct. 24 & Dec. 12). In addition, he shared the conference’s Goaltender of the Month honors for October with Vermont’s Stefanos Lekkas.

His shutout of BC had also earned him the NCAA’s number one star for the week ending Jan. 17

Freshman Clayton Keller is co-winner of the conference’s Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week. He’d previously earned R-O-W honors for the weeks of October 3rd, November 7th and December 19th. He also was December’s Rookie of the Month. Since returning to the BU line-up after missing seven games with an injury, Keller has 13 points in eight contests—all of which BU has won.

► USCHO: Hockey East Blog: Streaks becoming vogue

Max Prawdzik turned aside 29 shots in NAHL Lone Star’s 5-3 win over Wichita.  The 6’3” netminder from Andover, Massachusetts, who is taking a semester off from BU, recorded his third win in as many starts.

Looking ahead

SB Nation’s Jeff Cox looks at top prep prospects in Saturday’s Avon Old Farms-Berkshire game, including 2020 recruit Trevor Zegras, who scored a goal and an assist in the Winged Beavers’ 3-0 win. He leads the team in scoring with 22 points in 14 games.

Trevor Zegras, #11 Avon Old Farms, RW, Shoots Left, 3/20/01, 5-11/160 (Boston University) - The Terrier commit is an elite skater with a tremendous overall offensive skill set. He had a goal and an assist, but was a threat with the puck on his stick throughout the entire game. His first chance came early in the game where he showed off his speed as he burst in on net from the right side and got off a good shot. A few minutes later he won a puck battle in the right corner of the offensive zone and sent out a quick pass to the slot for a good chance. He showed good footwork coming into the zone down the left side, turning to the side before giving a pass back to the trailer for a wrist shot on net. His first step and skating ability was on display in the second period when he blew past a defender down the right side. After getting by the defender, he sent a great pass out to the slot for a chance. On the power play he was shifty and elusive along the wall as the puck went through him. He also does a good job of finding seams in the defense without the puck to get into position to receive passes. On his second period goal he showed off his quick release as he came in on the right side on a two-on-one. The puck was barely on his stick after receiving a feed from Tyler Madden before it was in the back of the net. He consistently made good passes from the wall and below the goal line. His speed into the attacking zone set up possession which led to Timonen’s third period goal.

Looking back

Ahti Oksanen scored his seventh goal for ECHL Greenville in a 4-3 overtime loss to South Carolina

USA Hockey Through adversity, Eichel has sights set high.

● USA Hockey: Hynes Takes Red, White and Blue Road to NHL

Women’s Team

A pair of goals by Nina Rodgers led the Terriers to a 5-2 win over Providence at Walter Brown Arena. The win gave BU three out of four points in its home-and-home series with the Friars.

BU took a 2-0 lead in the first on goals by Rebecca Leslie, who recorded her 100^th career point, and Anna Streifel—her first collegiate goal. Rodgers scored the eventual game-winner in the second period and scored again in the third, followed by Abby Cook’s empty-netter. Victoria Hanson stopped 24 shots.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score

● Video highlights and post-game comments

● Daily Free Press recap; Leslie’s 100^th point