Brendan Leipsic helps Portland Winterhawks win while losing Ty: Friday’s 3 Stars

No. 1 star: Brendan Leipsic, Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

Winterhawks fans are used to seeing a slightly built forward with an 8 on his back score big goals. Instead of Ty Rattie, who sat out due to injury, it was Leipsic (who wears 28) who scored two early goals to spark their series-tying 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings in Game 2 of the WHL final. As Jim Matheson described it, the 17-year-old Leipsic showed his skill by beating Oil Kings goalie Laurent Brossoit high glove side to open the scoring. Midway thorugh the second period, the willowy Winnipegger struck again after Edmonton's Ashton Sautner made a sucker pass up the middle. Sven Bärtschi scored again just 68 seconds later to put Portland well on its way to wresting away home-ice advantage, with the next two contests scheduled for the Rose City.

Amateur numerologists might not be shocked that Leipsic had a big game at Rexall Place. After all, his birthday, May 19, is also the anniversary of the Edmonton Oilers' first Stanley Cup win.

No. 2 star: Zack Phillips, Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL)

Phillips (1G-1A) scored 10:18 into double overtime, giving the Sea Dogs a 3-2 win in Game 1 of the President's Cup final. The centre located the puck amid a tangle of limbs in the Rimouski Océanic goalmouth and flicked in a shot that just got across the goal line, capping a game that seemed like it finish after the WHL contest which started two hours later. (Not a compliment; perhaps it was different for those at Harbour Station, but on TV the game came as more turgid than a Conrad Black op-ed.)

Phillips and his line with fellow Minnesota Wild prospect Charlie Coyle, who crashed the net to free up the puck on the winning goal, and Detroit Red Wings prospect Tomas Jurco (1G-1A), was probably Saint John's top trio on the net.

No. 3 star: Alex Belzile, Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL

The overage right wing also scored once and contributed an assist while helping the Océanic be a tough out against Saint John. A few wisenheimers who tuned in late after Saint John assumed a 2-0 lead in the game's first 90 seconds probably snarked that the series was already over, never mind the game. But the Océanic buckled down defensively, getting sticks into passing and shooting lanes, got a 41-save effort from goalie Jacob Chouinard and gradually worked their way back into the game.

Belzile, a 92-point scorer in the regular season, factored into both of Rimouskigoals, which came on their only two power plays of the game. The 20-year-old fed New Brunswick native Peter Trainor for one-timer that was his team-high 10th of the playoffs. Belzile tied the game later in the frame after ex-Sea Dog Scott Oke made a nice play to get the puck on net.

Oke, Jakub Celek and Petr Straka each had multiple scoring chances during the half-hour-plus of overtime. Sea Dogs goalie Mathieu Corbeil made 15 of his 40 saves during the sudden-victory sessions.

Honourable mention: Sven Bärtschi, Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

The Calgary Flames first-rounder pick scored two goals in Portland's win while playing on the home ice of his NHL organization's Alberta rivals. Bärtschi's first was timely, coming on the heels of a turnover that led directly to the second Winterhawks goal and an Oil Kings penalty. The Swiss star also scored into an empty net, giving him 10 goals and 28 points in 17 playoff games.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.