Portland Winterhawks’ Nicolas Petan notches 5-point night in comeback win: Sunday’s 3 Stars

No. 1 star: Nicolas Petan, Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

Down 4-1 with just over 25 minutes left in the game, it seemed the Winterhawks were going to fall to the Saskatoon Blades in their own barn, but Petan had other plans. The Winnipeg Jets prospect closed out the second period with two quick goals and completed his natural hat trick with a marker early in the third to knot the game up at four. He went onto to tie the game up again with his fourth on the night at the 13:48 mark before Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the Winterhawks’ game-winner in the 6-5 affair. It is safe to assume Petan’s budget for Brendan Leipsic’s Christmas gift went up after the contest as he assisted all four of his goals.

Petan’s five-point night, which included a first-period assist on Bjorkstrand’s first goal, gives him 19 goals and 60 points in 28 games on the year. A combination of his outstanding point production, a strong showing in the Subway Super Series and another valiant effort at the tryout camp, assuming he receives an invite, should give him a quality case to represent Canada at the world junior championship in Sweden.

The Blades, meanwhile, had a trio of players that had top-notch performances: Matt Revel (2G-1A, +1), Nathan Burns (2G-1A) and Nikita Scherbak (4A, +4).

No. 2 star: Anthony Mantha, Val-d’Or Foreurs (QMJHL)

It is nothing out of the ordinary to see Detroit Red Wings first-round pick Anthony Mantha notch three goals in a single night. He already has four hat tricks on the year and nine throughout his major junior career. But tonight in a 6-1 victory over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, Mantha’s hatty stands out from his previous 3-goal nights. For the first time in a Foreurs uniform, he scored all three goals in different situations as the first came on even strength, the second on the penalty kill and the third on the power play. His second on the night ultimately meant the most to his team as it knocked the wind out of the Titan by giving the Foreurs a commanding 4-0 lead with less than 23 minutes left in the game.

The 6-foot-5, 204-pound winger has had an exceptional 19-year-old season to say the least. He has netted 30 goals and 62 points in just 28 contests to lead the QMJHL in scoring while only being held off the score sheet once all year.

No. 3 star: Alex Dubeau, Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)

Dubeau stymied the high-powered Halifax Mooseheads’ offense. He stopped all 31 shots that came his way, including seven from Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Jonathan Drouin, in the 2-0 win. The icing on the cake for Dubeau is that snagged an assist on JC Campagna’s empty-net goal. In addition, he slightly outperformed Montreal Canadiens prospect Zachary Fucale who turned aside 31 of 32 shots at the other end of the ice.

Honourable mention: Emile Poirier, Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)

The Calgary Flames first-round pick was a play-making machine in 5-4 victory against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. He posted four helpers with three of them being the direct pass to the goal. Poirier kicked off the night by helping Taylor Burke score the opening marker just over a minute into the first period. In the middle frame, he set up Burke for his second and a Vaclav Karabacek goal within three minutes. He ended the contest in heroic fashion by feeding Martin Reway’s game-winner with only one second left on the clock.

Potent notables – Cape Breton Screaming Eagles import Maxim Lazarev potted two goals in a 6-3 win over the Charlottetown Islanders… Quebec Ramparts sniper Fabrice Herzog (2G, +1) scored the overtime winner in a 3-2 victory over the Rimouski Oceanic… Drummondville Voltigeurs goalie Louis-Philip Guindon stopped all 22 pucks that came his way in a 2-0 win against the Shawinigan Cataractes… Simon Lemieux led the Baie-Comeau Drakkar over the Sherbrooke Phoenix 2-1 by denying 28 of 29 shots… Brandon Whitney of the Victoriaville Tigres turned aside 30 of 31 pucks in a 3-1 win over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens... Sarnia Sting puck-stopper Taylor Dupuis stopped 56 of 58 shots in a losing 3-2 shootout effort against the Windsor Spitfires… Canadiens prospect Connor Crisp helped the Sudbury Wolves top the Ottawa 67’s 4-3 with a pair of goals… Vincent Praplan (2G, +2), Barclay Goodrow (1G-1A, +3) and Jake Smith (22-save shutout) led the North Bay Battalion over the Kitchener Rangers 4-0… Kingston Frontenacs goalie Matt Mahalak turned away 29 of 30 shots in a 2-1 victory over the Oshawa Generals… Edmonton Oilers prospect Greg Chase scored two goals to help the Calgary Hitmen defeat the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-1… Adam Henry (1G-2A) helped lift the Seattle Thunderbirds over the Spokane Chiefs in a 5-1 affair.

Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen