Moose Jaw Warriors’ Travis Brown plays OT hero, topping Thursday’s 3 Stars

No. 1 star: Travis Brown, Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)

For one night and one game vs. last-place Lethbridge, Brown and Moose Jaw were enjoying the life without Morgan Rielly. The other Warriors defenceman who heard his name called at the 2012 draft was all over the ice to help Moose Jaw, which had played 430 km away in Edmonton the evening prior, rally for a 4-3 overtime win over the hard-luck Hurricanes.

Moose Jaw got off the schneid when sophomore Brayden Point (1G-1A) struck 39 seconds into the third to pare Lethbridge's lead to 3-1. Then the 19-year-old Brown took over. The Winnipegger struck on the power play with 13:38 remaining, then came back and helped assisted on Alexander Chirva's first WHL goal with 4:4) left, which necessitated overtime. With 80 seconds left in the sudden-victory session, Brown took off on a rush and went high glove on Corbin Boes to complete the comeback. The big night gave the Chicago Blackhawks fifth-rounder 21 points in 16 games, which leads all defencemen in the Dub.

No. 2 star: Cristiano DiGiacinto, Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

The recent free-agent signing shone during Windsor's 7-3 wipeout of the Owen Sound Attack. DiGiacinto (2G-1A, +3) assisted on New Jersey Devils pick Ben Johnson's icebreaker fewer than two minutes after opening puck drop, then got a redirection goal late in the first frame that spurred Windsor to build a 5-1 lead. DiGiacinto also showed some supple hands late in the game when he scored again on another deflection.

No. 3 star: Jake Smith, North Bay Battalion (OHL)

Smith (35 saves, plus 3-for-3 in the circus) was the primary reason North Bay hung around and stuck the high-octane Kingston Frontenacs with their first back-to-back losses, 3-2 in a shootout. The 18-year-old goalie made a huge glove save with his team down 2-0 early in the third. After North Bay pulled even, Smith made a string of saves in the waning minutes of regulation to get North Bay one point. He needed medical attention after wrenching a knee while sliding cross-crease to make a save in overtime, but stayed in and denied all three Frontenacs shooters to nail down a full result. Smith had little chance on the two Kingston goals by overage Darcy Greenaway.

Honourable mentions: Joseph Blandisi and Travis Konecny, Ottawa 67's (OHL)

No one is suggesting Blandisi's ears might have burned a little when people wondered out loud whether Ottawa, shorn of Sean Monahan, had a veteran forward who could keep up with the prodigy Konency. What is known is that in Ottawa's first game since the Calgary Flames confirmed Monahan was staying, Blandisi (1G-3A, +4) and Konency (2G-1A, +3) went off to help Ottawa paste the Peterborough Petes 8-1 for their first road win.

The Petes sat three veterans for violating curfew, and Blandisi and Konecny pounced, connecting on a goal just 49 seconds into the section. Konecny finished off a 2-on-1 by slamming in a Blandisi pass to make it 4-0 before the game was 10 minutes old. Blandisi, a Colorado Avalanche sixth-rounder, also scored a short-handed penalty-shot goal.

Potent notables — Top draft prospect Aaron Ekblad (1G-2A, +2) took first-star honours during Barrie's 4-3 home win over Niagara, where Michael Webster (1G-1A, +1) got his second-ever OHL goal for the game-winner ... Philadelphia Flyers prospect Anthony Stolarz got his second shutout for London, making 35 saves in a 3-0 win over Kitchener that ended the Knights' three-game winless slide ... In the QMJHL, Calgary Flames first-rounder Emile Poirier has 12 goals in 14 games after getting two in Gatineau's win at Sherbrooke.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.