Sunday, February 26, 2017

Keller, Oettinger lead BU past Notre Dame, 4-1, and to a share of the conference title



#6/5 Terrier finally solved Notre Dame goalie Cal Petersen and claimed a 4-1 win on Senior Night, earning a share of the Hockey East regular season crown. BU was led by Clayton Keller with a pair of goals, tallies by Kieffer Bellows and John MacLeod, and a stellar 40-save performance by Jake Oettinger.

BU shares the conference title with UMass Lowell and Boston College and, due to the tiebreaker, will have the conference tournament second seed, behind the Riverhawks and ahead of the Eagles. UML had one more conference win than BU.
Notre Dame got on the board late in the first period on Mike O’Leary’s goal. BU matched that tally midway through the second on a power play with Bellows converting the rebound of Dante Fabbro’s shot for his seventh goal. Bobo Carpenter also assisted. Late in the period Ryan Cloonan set up MacLeod who wired a shot past Petersen who was screened by Bellows.

BU extended the lead four minutes into the third period when Keller redirected Fabbro’s wrist shot from just inside the blueline. Patrick Harper also picked up an assist.  The stellar freshman from Illinois put the game out of reach with a wrist shot from the left circle off a Carpenter feed.

Oettinger stopped 28 Notre Dame shots in the final two period, including several spectacular ones, en route to his 18th win.

Along with the share of the conference title and second seed, BU earned a bye in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs. The Terriers return to action on March 10th, when they will be hosting a best-of-three quarterfinal series—opponent TBD.

Coach David Quinn commented:

“To finish the season tied for the most points in this league says an awful lot about our leadership, our seniors, our juniors. I still think we got another level in us that we can get to. But we’re going to take a deep breath and enjoy this for the next few days.”

Senior Night ceremonies honored captain Doyle Somerby, Tommy Kelley and Nick Roberto, along with video coordinator Sam Kelley.
● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score
● Post Game-Comments: Coach David Quinn, Doyle Somerby/Keller
● Daily Free Press recap, analysis
Photo Gallery
College Hockey News recap and Hockey East tournament bracket
 ● HockeyEastOnline: First-round match-ups

Looking ahead
2017 recruit Hank Crone’s 17th goal was the game-winner for Fargo as the Force edged Youngstown, 3-2. With 41 points, the Cedar Hill, Texas native has equaled his 2015-16 points total in just 42 games.

Video highlights of Friday’s NTDP U18 win over Arizona State when Brady Tkachuk scored twice and Joel Farabee once.

Looking back
Adam Clendening scored late in the third period to bring the Rangers even with the Devils and New York went on to win in overtime, 4-3.
● NHL.com recap and video

Evan Rodrigues scored a goal for Buffalo in the Sabres’ 5-3 loss to Colorado. Jack Eichel had an assist for Buffalo and Matt Nieto assisted on an Avalanche goal.
● NHL.com recap and video

Women’s Team
BU, trailing by a goal after two periods and 20 minutes from elimination, rallied for a pair of goals to edge New Hampshire, 4-3, and force a third game in the best-of-three quarterfinal conference tournament series at Walter Brown Arena. Alexis Crossley’s second goal of the weekend tied the score and then, at 8:14, Samantha Sutherland’s short-handed tally provided the game-winner.

The Wildcats held a 2-1 lead after one, sandwiching goals around Maddie Elia’s unassisted score. UNH extended the lead to 3-1 on a second-period power play, but the Terriers responded with a Rebecca Leslie power-play goal to narrow the margin to 3-2.

BU outshot New Hampshire, 40-20.

The third and deciding game will be played Sunday with puck drop set for 3 p.m.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score



No comments:

Site Meter