While Selection Sunday nears in NCAA, other prospects begin playoff runs

Casey Fitzgerald (third round, 2016) and Christopher Brown (sixth round, 2014) kept their collegiate careers alive - along with their chances to appear at the Frozen Four in Buffalo - with Boston College's quarterfinal series win over Jacob Bryson (fourth round, 2017) and Providence College last weekend.
Providence took Game 1, 5-4. BC stayed alive with a 4-3 overtime win in Game 2 and took the decisive third game, 2-1. Fitzgerald earned the primary assist on both Eagles goals in Game 3. Catch the highlights of that game in the video below:

Watch: Youtube Video
BC will play UMass, the top-seeded team in the tournament, at TD Garden in the Hockey East Tournament semifinal on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Maxwell Willman (fifth round, 2014) and Boston University will play Northeastern in the other semifinal matchup at 4. The championship game will be played Saturday at 7.
BC and BU need to win a conference tournament championship to earn an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament, which concludes with the Frozen Four at KeyBank Center on April 11 and 13. Bryson and Providence, meanwhile, will await their fate when the NCAA announces at-large bids this Sunday, which will be aired live at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.
In the NCHC, Mattias Samuelsson (second round, 2018) saw his freshman campaign come to an end with Western Michigan's quarterfinal series loss to Colorado College. The defenseman tallied 12 points (5+7) in 35 games.

Bryson, Fitzgerald earn postseason honors

Bryson was named to Hockey East's Second All-Star Team on Wednesday, while Fitzgerald was one of three players to receive an honorable mention. Bryson tallied 25 points (4+21) in 39 games as a junior; Fitzgerald has 13 points (2+11) while manning the Eagles' top defense pair.
Bryson also received the conference's Len Ceglarski Individual Sportsmanship Award for the second straight season.

Around the playoffs

It's playoff time in the CHL as well as in European pro leagues. Here's a look at where Sabres prospects stand entering their postseasons, sorted by league.
OHL
If you have interest in seeing Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (second round, 2017) play in person, you're in luck. Luukkonen and the Sudbury Wolves will be playing just 90 minutes up the QEW from Buffalo for Games 3 and 4 of their quarterfinal series with Mississauga, which begins in Sudbury on Friday night.

Luukkonen finished the regular season atop the OHL in save percentage (.920), tied for first in wins (38) and shutouts (6), and ranked third in goals-against average (2.50). He helped Sudbury to a 43-win season, the organization's highest total since Mike Foligno played for the Wolves in 1975-76.
The OHL released a coaches poll on Thursday, in which Luukkonen was voted as his conference's best puck-handling goalie and best shootout goalie.
Liiga
Oskari Laaksonen (third round, 2017) missed Ilves' first-round series against SaiPa due to an injury, but he's expected to be back on the top defense pair for Game 1 of the team's quarterfinal series on Friday. The 19 year old ranks 11th in Liiga with an average ice time of 21:18 and tied for 15th among league defensemen with 24 points (3+21) in 46 games.
Miska Kukkonen (fifth round, 2018) played all three games in Lukko's first-round series win over JYP and will be back in the lineup for Game 1 of their quarterfinal series against his former team, Tappara, on Friday. The 18-year-old defenseman is averaging 16:18 during the playoffs.
SHL
Marcus Davidsson (second round, 2017) and Linus Lindstrand Cronholm (fourth round, 2018) open quarterfinal series on Saturday. Davidsson's Djurgardens team will play Skelleftea, while Lindstrand Cronholm and Malmo will play Frolunda.
Davidsson, 20, tied for fifth on Djurgardens with 27 points (10+17) in 52 regular-season games, including four points (2+2) in his last five contests.
Lindstrand Cronholm, 18, played six games for Malmo in March after spending the majority of the season playing in Sweden's second-tier league, Allsvenskan. The defenseman has averaged 12:14 during his first SHL stint.

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Stats

| Skater | Position | Team (League) | GP | G | A | PTS | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Christopher Brown | F | Boston College (NCAA) | 37 | 7 | 9 | 16 | | Jacob Bryson | D | Providence (NCAA) | 39 | 4 | 21 | 25 | | Ivan Chukarov | D | Worcester (ECHL) | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | Marcus Davidsson | F | Djuragardens (SHL) | 52 | 10 | 17 | 27 | | Casey Fitzgerald | D | Boston College (NCAA) | 37 | 2 | 11 | 13 | | Vasily Glotov | F | Cincinnati (ECHL) | 60 | 17 | 30 | 47 | | Miska Kukkonen | D | Lukko (Liiga) | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | Oskari Laaksonen | D | Ilves (Liiga) | 46 | 3 | 21 | 24 | | Linus Lindstrand Cronholm | D | Malmo (SHL) | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | Brett Murray | F | Youngstown (USHL) | 53 | 36 | 31 | 67 | | Philip Nyberg | D | UConn (NCAA) | 34 | 0 | 4 | 4 | | Matej Pekar | F | Barrie (OHL) | 33 | 14 | 22 | 36 | | Mattias Samuelsson | D | Western Michigan (NCAA) | 35 | 5 | 7 | 12 | | Linus Weissbach | F | Wisconsin (NCAA) | 27 | 8 | 17 | 25 | | Maxwell Willman | F | Boston University (NCAA) | 35 | 1 | 5 | 6 | | William Worge Kreu | D | Linkoping J20 (SuperElit) | 24 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Goaltender | Team (League) | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | GAA | SV% | SO | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | Sudbury (OHL) | 53 | 38 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 2.50 | .920 | 6 |