Bryson, Providence ready for Frozen Four in Buffalo

The Frozen Four matchups are set for next weekend at KeyBank Center. Jacob Bryson (fourth round, 2017) and the Providence Friars will take on Minnesota Duluth, the defending NCAA champions, on Thursday at 5 p.m.
In the other Frozen Four matchup, Denver will play UMass at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Tickets are on sale now. The games will also air on ESPN2. The championship game is set for Saturday at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

Bryson, a captain for the Friars, posted an assist in their 4-0 win over Cornell last weekend to advance to the semifinal round. He has an assist in each tournament game so far.

In addition to Bryson, former Sabres coach Ron Rolston is an assistant coach at Providence and Tyce Thompson, the brother of forward Tage Thompson, finished the regular season with 25 points in 41 games for the Friars. He's eligible to be selected in the 2019 NHL Draft.
"There will be some great connections there, which hopefully we can get the Buffalo people rooting for us," Providence head coach Nate Leaman said.
Leaman is looking for a balanced attack from his squad and hopes they've learned enough lessons throughout the year to overcome any adversity they may face during the tournament.
"I believe you have to be able to play any style at any time in the tournament and you have to be able to score different ways," he said. "When we were fortunate enough to win the national championship in 2015, we led the tournament in scoring."

A full schedule of events for Frozen Four festivities in Buffalo can be found here.

Playoff runs continue

Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (second round, 2017) will be in net on Friday when the Sudbury Wolves take on the Ottawa 67's in Game 1 of the second round of the OHL playoffs.
In Europe, only Marcus Davidsson's team is still alive. Djurgarden defeated Skelleftea 4-2 in their series with the 2017 second-round pick posting a goal and an assist in the clinching game. They take on Farjestad starting Saturday.

Lighting the lamp

Brett Murray (fourth round, 2016) leads the USHL with 39 goals and is second in the league with 71 points.

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Stats

| Skater | Position | Team (League) | GP | G | A | PTS | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Christopher Brown | F | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | Jacob Bryson | D | Providence (NCAA) | Playoffs: 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | | Ivan Chukarov | D | Worcester (ECHL) | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | | Marcus Davidsson | F | Djuragardens (SHL) | Playoffs: 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | | Casey Fitzgerald | D | Rochester (AHL) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | | Vasily Glotov | F | Cincinnati (ECHL) | 66 | 19 | 31 | 50 | | Brett Murray | F | Youngstown (USHL) | 56 | 39 | 32 | 71 | | Matej Pekar | F | Rochester (AHL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Goaltender | Team (League) | GP | W | L | GAA | SV% | SO | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | Sudbury (OHL) | Playoffs: 4 | 4 | 0 | 1.95 | .946 | 0 |