Marek Langhamer’s 43 saves gets Tigers back into WHL Eastern final: Tuesday’s 3 Stars

No. 1 star: Marek Langhamer, Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)

This was the goaltending equivalent of German volume training, you might say. Langhamer, who thrives on being peppered with pucks, flat-out stole a Game 3 win from the Edmonton Oil Kings by stopping 43-of-44 shots in Medicine Hat's must-have 2-1 victory. The Phoenix Coyotes-drafted goalie was beaten in the sixth minute by Ottawa Senators first-round pick Curtis Lazar. St. Louis Blues prospect Tommy Vannelli got the goal back 71 seconds later and Langhamer came through with 18 first-period saves to preserve a tie after 20 minutes.

Langhamer continued to bunker down in the second, buying time for the Tigers to go ahead with 2:28 left in the frame on a tally credited to Chad Labelle. After that, the Tigers went to work stymieing the potent Oil Kings as much as possible, with Dylan Bredo doing yeoman's work neutralizing both Lazar and Henrik Samuelsson's line. Langhamer came through with 14 more saves in the final period, upping his playoff save percentage to a gaudy .939.

No. 2 star: Jonathan Drouin, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)

Never count out the heart of a defending Memorial Cup champion. Halifax is now down 2-1 to Val-d'Or in the semifinal after scoring five unanswered for a 6-5 Game 3 overtime win. Drouin (1G-2A, +1) resuscitated Halifax with two primary assists on Matt Murphy's goals 58 seconds apart late in the second that pared Val-d'Or's lead to 5-3. In the third period, the Tampa Bay Lightning aspirant seemingly never came off the ice at Centre Air Creebec as the Mooseheads desperately sought to avoid falling in a three-games-to-none hole.

With 5:19 left, Drouin picked a corner on Toronto Maple Leafs-drafted goalie Antoine Bibeau to reduce the lead to 5-4 and put Val-d'Or on tilt. Mackenzie Weegar scored 80 seconds later to force overtime. Another Ontario-born Mooseheads D-man, Jesse Lussier, scored in OT to make it a series.

No. 3 star: Barclay Goodrow, North Bay Battalion (OHL)

Goodrow (2G-2A, +2) took over the OHL playoff scoring lead after having his second four-point game in a row during the 5-2 win over Oshawa that gave the Battalion a 3-0 series lead. The San Jose Sharks signing threaded the puck into the slot to set up Mike Amadio for a tying goal with 1:33 left in the first, then snapped in a 25-footer 28 seconds later to stake the Gateway City gang to the lead. North Bay was up a goal in the third when Goodrow shot from an acute angle and caught goalie Daniel Altshuller leaning for a backbreaker goal.

Goodrow has 21 points in 16 playoff games, an actual improvement over his points per game in the regular season.

Honourable mention: Étienne Marcoux, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)

The Baie-Comeau Drakkar finally lost in the playoffs, thanks in large part to Marcoux's 30-save effort in Blainville-Boisbriand's 4-1 Game 3 home win. Despite playing in front of a sparse crowd of 2,612 at the Centre d'excellence Sports Rousseau — were the Montreal Canadiens in action? — the Armada dug deep to get back in the series. Edmonton Oilers pick Marc-Olivier Roy scored the go-ahead-for-good goal with 9:12 left in the first. The overage Marcoux made that marker stand up as he claimed first-star honours.

Potent notables — Philadelphia Flyers prospect Taylor Leier scored exactly 10 minutes into overtime to give Portland a 4-3 Game 3 win over Kelowna after it trailed by two with 2½ minutes to play in regulation. Oliver Bjorkstrand tallied his WHL playoff-leading 14th goal and 24th point to help Portland overcome Kelowna goalie Jordon Cooke, who stopped 61-of-65 shots ... Halifax's Kevin Darveau stopped 26-of-28 shots in relief for his first QMJHL playoff win after Zach Fucale gave up three goals on Val-d'Or first four shots. Anthony Mantha has a league-high 14 playoff goals after scoring a hat trick in a losing effort for the Foreurs.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.