Gagné nets second hat-trick of season in decisive win over Baie-Comeau: Sunday’s 3 stars

No. 1 star: Gabriel Gagné, Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)

Gagné (3G) was on fire Sunday, notching a hat-trick in the Tigres 5-2 road win against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.

He scored his first early in the second period, with an unassisted marker at 1:28. He followed that up with a pair of goals in the third, including the winner on the powerplay at 2:53, to snap a 2-2 tie and ensure the victory.

The goals give Gagné 19 on the season, already past his rookie season total of 16 for the second-year player. It was his second three-goal performance of the season. He was definitely feeling it Sunday, firing eight shots on net.

He has always been a goal scorer. When the Moncton Wildcats made him their first pick in 2012 in the second round of the QMJHL draft they reached because of his shot. He never played for Moncton, though, as he was a center-piece coming back to the Tigres in the Phil Danault trade in the 2012-13 season.

Angelo Miceli (2A) assisted on both third period goals for Gagné, as François Tremblay (30-of-32 shots) got the win in net. Philippe Cadorette (22-of-26) took the loss.

The Tigres jumped to 18-12-1-3 on the year, while the Drakkar dropped to 19-11-3-1.

No. 2 star: Danick Martel, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)

Martel (3G, 1A) was the star for the Armada in their 6-3 doubling of the Val-d’Or Foreurs.

He opened the scoring early on the man advantage at 4:48, then snapped a 2-2 tie in the second. He completed the trick late in the second on another PP goal, and added an assist on a Nikita Jevpalovs (1G, 2A) goal early in the third, giving him points in all three periods of action.

Martel, undrafted into the QMJHL, is taking advantage of an Armada lineup that lost significant scoring in the off-season to jump into a starring role and produce great numbers. He has 47 points, including 22 goals, in 33 games this season. He had 60 points in 67 games last year.

Captain Daniel Walcott (3A) earned a trio of assists in the win, which improved the Armada to 18-10-1-4, keeping them four points up on Sherbrooke for first in the West Division.

Val-d’Or dropped to 14-16-2-3, and fell a point behind Gatineau for last in the West.

No. 3 star: Blake Speers, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)

Speers (3G) notched a hat-trick of his own to help the Greyhounds survive a scare against the Windsor Spitfires.

He snapped a 3-3 tie in the third period and completed the hat-trick with the insurance marker at 11:53 of the final frame, securing the 6-4 win for Sault Ste. Marie. The goals gave Speers 16 on the year, three off his total from last season.

Sergei Tolchinsky (3A) and Bryan Moore (2G, 1A) helped pace the offence along with Speers, as the Greyhounds are now undefeated in six. Joseph Raaymakers (19-of-20) got the win in relief.

Sault Ste. Marie rose to 24-6-0-2 with the win, improving their lead over second-place Sarnia in the West Division to 15 points, and one point below Oshawa for the OHL lead.

Windsor dropped to 11-18-1-0, tied with Plymouth in the basement of the West.

Honourable mention: Conor Garland, Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)

Moncton was in Acadie-Bathurst Sunday for an afternoon tilt. The Wildcats were undefeated in their last six, and the Titan had lost their last four and sit in the basement of the QMJHL. Should have been a cakewalk, right?

Wrong. The Titan scored five goals in 21 minutes, chasing starter Alex Dubeau from the cage and going into autopilot.

But you don’t sleep on the Wildcats this season, and they mounted a big comeback, punctuated by Garland’s shorthanded marker to tie the score at 5-5 in the final minute of play.

Ivan Barbashev (1G, 1A) scored the winner in overtime on the powerplay to complete the comeback for the 6-5 victory, assisted by Garland (1G, 2A), who is tied for the league’s scoring lead with 58 points in 33 games.

Notables: Alex Dostie (2G, 1A) notched a three-point afternoon in Gatineau’s 5-3 win over Drummondville. Alexis Pépin (2G) added a pair for the Olympiques. … Roy Radke (2G, 1A) and Garret Hooey (1G, 2A) led Barrie in their 6-1 drubbing of Mississauga. … Tim McGauley (2G) scored twice unassisted to seal the win for Brandon 4-0 over Red Deer. Jordan Papirny (23 saves) pitched the shutout. … 2015 NHL draft hopeful Daniel Sprong (2G) scored the only two goals in the first 40 minutes as Charlottetown downed Rimouski 5-2 for a convincing road win. … Owen MacDonald (2G) and Christian Dvorak (1G, 2A) paced London to a 5-2 win over Peterborough, the Knights’ fifth win in a row. … Adin Hill (45-of-48) held off Tri-City, including 17-of-18 shots in the third period, as Portland snuck by the Americans 4-3. Beau McCue (2G) led the way in a losing effort. … Bradley Van Schubert (42-of-45) made 42 saves in a losing effort as Guelph fell to Oshawa 3-2. … Collin Shirley (2G) scored two of Kamloops’ three goals in the last two minutes of the first period, and it was enough to knock off Lethbridge 4-2. Zane Jones (2G) was the offense for the Hurricanes. … Mike Amadio scored the winner on the man-advantage at 3:50 of the extra frame to give North Bay a 2-1 win over Kingston. … Layne Bensmiller got the eventual winner and Chase Lang (1G, 1A) pitched in as Calgary defeated shorthanded Kelowna 4-1 for their fifth win in a row.