Three Stars: Makarov sharp in Russia’s 6-5 win over Canada

In Game Three of the Canada-Russia challenge and the first on this side of the pond, Canadians got their first look at members of the prospective U-20 squad for the World Junior tournament playing together. Canada would fall behind early and despite several comeback attempts, never held a lead and lost the game 6-5 to Russia, who now lead the series 2 games to 1.

Game 4 runs at 7:00 ET from the Halifax Metro Centre on Tuesday..

No. 1 Star - Andrei Makarov, Team Russia

Normally when a goaltender lets in five goals, he doesn't earn consideration for the No. 1 star position, but the Russian defence was hammered all night by Canada's consistent attack and Andrey Makarov kept Russia ahead all game. The Saskatoon Blades netminder faced 42 shots overall, and several from right in close, his best and his biggest save coming off the stick of Oshawa's Lucas Lessio late in the third period to keep the game 6-5.

Makarov played much better than his counterpart at the other end, Laurent Brossoit, who looked on his heels and was fighting the puck all night. Confident Makarov made saves from the top of his crease and trusted his defenders to clear second chances. This isn't the first time Makarov and Brossoit, the Edmonton Oil King, have met. They faced each other twice in the WHL last season, each goalie going 1-1, each being pulled in their loss. Perhaps high-scoring affairs will be the norm between these two keepers.

No. 2 Star: Ryan Murphy, Team Canada

Note that that's Ryan Murphy, not defensive partner Ryan Murray who benefitted from playing with the wildly aggressive Murphy for much of this game. The Carolina Hurricanes prospect showcased the speed and the confidence to attack every small bit of space left to him on the ice. In the first period, he was all over the place, scoring Canada's first goal on a rocket on a 5-on-3, and had a hand in setting up the second, drawing the defence wide to set up Murray for a terrific chance in the high slot, and his shot's rebound was re-directed in.

The Canadian attack was consistent and strong throughout, and much of it was based on activating the defence. It's a pretty impressive group from the back-end that includes Morgan Rielly, Mathew Dumba and Cody Ceci, but Murphy was the best at doing that tonight, opening up holes in the ice and doing a lot to contribute to the 42 shots that Canada took in this game.

No. 3 Star: Andrey Sigarev, Team Russia

Neither of Andrey Sigarev's goals were highlight-reel worthy tonight, but he was the only two-goal scorer on the ice and potted the winner with a little less than seven minutes to go in the third period and breaking a 5-5 deadlock. His first on the night was on Russia's first shot, an innocent-looking floater that eluded Brossoit's glove hand.

Russia didn't spend an awful lot of time in Canada's end despite scoring six goals, and Sigarev was there for two of them.

Honourable mentions: Charles Hudon The Montreal Canadiens prospect looked dominant on the powerplay all night, getting several good chances on that right half-point, scoring the goal that made the game 4-4 late… Jonathan Huberdeau Huberdeau is a much better player when he gets involved and he did in the third period. Not only did he score the goal but he was handling the puck more often in the offensive zone, and kept a play alive by making a nifty chip of the puck over a defender… Anton Slepyshev It was a surprise that Slepyshev went undrafted, and the talented forward had a very good goal from in close and was probably Russia's most dangerous forward… Morgan Rielly His pass on the Huberdeau goal that eluded three Russia defenders was likely the play of the game...