Ho-Sang and Spits have last laugh in shootout thriller in Sarnia: Sunday’s 3 stars

No. 1 star: Josh Ho-Sang, Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

Ho-Sang had the best of many great offensive performances in Windsor’s wild 8-7 win over Sarnia.

The Spits and Sting battled it out in a shooting gallery for 65 minutes, goal for goal, making it fitting that Ho-Sang, the best point-getter in Sunday’s game, to get the winner in the shootout.

Ho-Sang also had a hat-trick and added an assist in the win. Four points gave him 62 on the year, 18 more than last year’s rookie season for the 2014 NHL Draft-eligible winger.

Ho-Sang had plenty of help too. Blueliner Trevor Murphy had two goals and Slater Koekkoek had a goal and two assists from the back end. Brody Vail added three helpers for Windsor, who improved to 29-17-2-0, good enough for fifth in the Western Conference.

Defender Anthony DeAngelo scored twice for Sarnia, who dropped to 15-27-1-5. Six other Sting players had two points.

Dalen Kuchmey got the win in net, stopping all five shots he faced from the start of the third period. Alex Fotinos got the nod and gave up seven on 31 shots in two periods of work.

Taylor Dupuis made 37 saves in a losing effort.

The score was 3-3 after one frame, and 7-6 Sarnia after two. Ho-Sang scored the equalizer early in the third, and then buried the winner in the shootout.

No. 2 star: Connor Brown, Erie Otters (OHL)

The CHL’s leading scorer added to his totals on Sunday, netting a hat-trick of his own and adding an assist in Erie’s 5-4 win over East-leading Oshawa.

Brown’s four point night gives him 98 on the season, 13 up on second place in the entire Canadian Hockey League. He now has 25 points in his last eight games. Teammate Dane Fox, who had two assists of his own, is in second in OHL scoring with 84.

He is 25 points up on the first non-Otter in the scoring race: Nikolay Goldobin, who sits third and had two points in Sarnia’s loss.

Brown had a goal in each period and opened the scoring as the Otters got a 2-0 lead after one and traded goals with the Generals until the final whistle. Erie improved to 36-9-2-0 on the year, while Oshawa fell to 31-13-0-4.

Brendan Gaunce had a goal and an assist for Erie, while Scott Laughton had two goals and an assist in a losing effort for Oshawa.

No. 3 star: Oliver Bjorkstrand, Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

Bjorkstrand had three goals and an assist of his own in Portland’s 6-2 road win over Everett.

He quickly countered the ’Tips opening goal with a goal of his own less than a minute later in the first period, then scored to pull ahead the ’Hawks for good early in the second. While he ultimately didn’t score the winner, he did score his team’s fourth goal as well.

Taylor Leier and Paul Bittner each had two assists for Portland, who improved to 33-12-2-3 on the season. Brendan Burke made 27 saves in the win.

Austin Lotz made 32 saves in the loss, which dropped Everett to 25-17-7-1.

Honourable mention: Charles-David Beaudoin, Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)

Defenceman Beaudoin ended up the hard-luck loser in the 3 star selection, as he had, you guessed it, three goals and an assist in Drummondville’s 6-0 win over Charlottetown.

The Volts captain scored the winner on an unassisted effort in the first period and adding goals in the second and third. The hat-trick gave the blueliner 11 goals on the year, more than his career total for his last three years combined.

The Volts took 53 shots on the Islanders net, with Eric Brassard stopping 47 of them. Louis-Philip Guindon earned his fifth shutout of the year with 14 saves.

Drummondville climbed to 30-16-1-2 on the year, while Charlottetown fell to 17-28-1-4.

Notables: Mitchell Moroz scored the overtime winner and added two assists as Edmonton clipped Calgary 3-2. Henrik Samuelsson also had a goal and two helpers. … Kerby Rychel had two goals, including the winner, and added a helper in Guelph’s 4-2 win over Saginaw. Steven Trojanovic and Matt Finn each had two assists. … Oliver Cooper scored twice and added an assist while Sébastien Auger stopped all 32 shots he faced in Saint John’s 4-0 win over Acadie Bathurst. … Connor Crisp had three assists as Sudbury doubled up on Barrie 4-2. Nicholas Baptiste had a goal and an assist, as did Barrie’s Aaron Ekblad. … Charles Légaré scored twice and Timothé Simard added a goal and two assists as Cape Breton doubled Chicoutimi 6-3. Laurent Dauphin had two goals in a losing effort. … Robert Polesello scored twice in a six-goal second period for Kingston as they beat Belleville 6-1. Mikko Vainonen and Michael Moffat each had two helpers. … Callum Booth earned his first QMJHL shutout, steering aside 33 shots as Québec won 3-0 in Rouyn-Noranda. … Tyler Gaudet had a goal and two assists as Sault Ste. Marie beat Plymouth 4-2. … Taran Kozun made 33 saves and Roberts Lipsbergs had a goal and an assist in Seattle’s 4-1 win over Kelowna. … Vaclav Karabacek had two goals and Alexandre Carrier added two helpers as Gatineau edged Shawinigan 4-3. … Nick Paul and Vincent Praplan each scored and added an assist as North Bay beat Peterborough 3-1. Jake Smith stopped 26-of-27 shots. … Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau had a goal and an assist as Baie-Comeau beat Moncton 4-2 to win their eighth in a row. Conor Garland had a goal and an assist for the losing team.