2013 Memorial Cup: Rattie, Domi, dazzle with highlight-reel plays – Monday’s 3 Stars

For the second consecutive game, the Portland Winterhawks blew a multi-goal lead. Unlike their first game of the tournament when they capitulated in the third against the Halifax Mooseheads, the Winterhawks responded with two quick goals of their own, from Derick Pouliot and Chase De Leo, to regain the lead, and the Hawks would eventually hold on for a 6-3 victory.

The Winterhawks still don't look like the team that ate up the WHL's Western Conference all season long, but they put together an excellent effort against the Knights. They took an early 3-0 lead on goals from Taylor Leier, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Ty Rattie before the Knights struck with two in the second and one early in the third.

From there, the Winterhawks regrouped, took back the momentum and chased goaltender Anthony Stolarz, bringing their record to 1-1 and guaranteeing the tournament a tiebreaking game to take place between the losing team in Wednesday and Thursday's games.

No. 1 Star - Max Domi, London Knights

Normally the No. 1 Star comes from the winning side, but Max Domi was all over the ice tonight. He may even deserve the top honours based on this one assist:

That goal came just two minutes after captain Scott Harrington had made it 3-1 and cut the Portland lead to two. Domi going between-the-legs set Twitter abuzz and provided the most memorable moment of the tournament to date. Domi was credited with the one assist and was a minus-3 on the night but he played much, much better than the boxscore indicates. His speed and skill along with linemate Bo Horvat was on display all night and if it wasn't for a couple of choice missed nets by Horvat, we're looking at a much closer score line.

No. 2 Star - Ty Rattie, Portland Winterhawks

Hey, speaking of highlight-reel...

Rattie scored a similar-looking goal against Halifax in a losing cause. This one was the 3-0 goal in a winning cause, and like many exceptional efforts, it would have been nice if it held up as the winner. Rattie did provide the empty-net goal for the Winterhawks and had another strong game, getting involved in the offensive zone. On one powerplay in the second period, the Winterhawks got three chances and held the zone for more than 1:20. All three chances came off the stick of Rattie but he just couldn't beat Stolarz.

He also got the primary assist on Pouliot's winner.

No. 3 Star - Chase De Leo, Portland Winterhawks

Chase De Leo scored the insurance marker just :23 seconds after the Pouliot goal, and was a leading checker for the Winterhawks. The team got a lot of scoring from their depth players, despite the good game from Rattie and the goal from Bjorkstrand, guys like Nic Petan and Brendan Leipsic were fairly quiet in the offensive zone.

De Leo also recorded an assist on the Bjorkstrand goal and was leaned on by Winterhawks coach Travis Green in a checking role. An excellent game from a player whose name isn't one of the household names at this tournament, ranking well below the Seth Joneses and the Max Domis of the world.

Game Grade: It was good that London made a game of it, and the second period was a wide open, free-swinging affair that provided many memorable moments. It was too bad that the game wasn't closer in the third, but it was the best of the tournament to date. A.