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Nick Ritchie’s 3-point night lifts Petes over Frontenacs: Sunday’s (and Saturday’s) 3 Stars

Kelly Friesen

No. 1 star: Nick Ritchie, Peterborough Pets (OHL)

At the hands of Ritchie and the rest of the Petes, the Kingston Frontenacs not only blew a 3-0 series lead, but they also gave up a 3-0 jump in Game 6.

The 6-foot-3, 229-pound Ritchie scored the Petes’ ever-important first goal of the game on the penalty kill at the 11:22 mark in the opening frame to bring them within two. Less than a minute later, Eric Cornel built off Ritchie’s momentum-swinging goal by netting one himself. Evan McEneny closed out the first period by regaining a two-goal lead for the Frontenacs, but Ritchie led the Petes back into the game by scoring his second of the night in the second period and assisting a Matt McCartney marker at the 12:01 mark in the final frame. Hunter Garlent (1G-2A, +3) went on to play hero by scoring the game-winner with less than four minutes left in the 5-4 match.

Andrew D’Agostini held his own in between the Petes’ pipes by stopping 35 of 39 shots, including a first period penalty shot against Henri Ikonen.

The Petes and Frontenacs will square off in a winner-takes-all Game 7 on Tuesday in Kingston.

No. 2 star: Marek Langhamer, Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)

The Phoenix Coyotes prospect’s 30-save effort led to the Tigers knocking the Swift Current Broncos out of the post-season. Langhamer only allowed a redirection goal from Nathan Burns get by him in the Tigers' 2-1 victory. The outstanding Game 6 showing adds to the impressive .955 save percentage and 1.64 average that he put together over the course of the series.

Both of the Tigers’ goals came in the final frame as Curtis Valk tied the game up just over two minutes into the period and Chad Labelle scored the game-winner at the 17:36 mark.

Swift Current netminder Eetu Laurikainen stood tall at the other end of the ice by stopping 38 of 40 rubber bullets in his last major junior game.

No. 3 star: Mike Amadio, North Bay Battalion (OHL)

The Battalion will meet the Niagara IceDogs in a Game 7 showdown largely because of a pair of crucial goals from Amadio in the 5-1 affair. With North Bay up 2-1 in the latter half of the second period, the 17-year-old sophomore scored his first ever playoff goal at the 17:21 mark. He went on to put the Battalion up by three with less than five minutes left in the final frame to erase any last-minute comeback hopes that the IceDogs may have had. Amadio’s three-point showing (assisted Dylan Blujus’ opening goal) is a monkey off his back as he went scoreless in the first five games of the series and didn’t register a point in five post-season contests last season.

Overage winger Matt MacLeod (2A, +2) is the only other Battalion that notched multiple points while Jake Smith turned aside 22 of 23 pucks in the blue paint.

Honourable mention: Daniel Walcott, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)

Walcott helped the Armada escort the Moncton Wildcats out of the second season with a two-point effort from the back end in the 4-2 game. The 5-foot-11, 168-pounder opened up the second period with a power-play goal to give Blainville-Boisbriand a comfortable three-goal lead. He later assisted Nikita Jevplovs’ snipe following Matthew Klebanskyj and Vladmir Tkachev scoring one apiece to bring the Wildcats within one.

Saturday's stars: Jaedon Descheneau (No. 1 star) potted a hatty and a helper and Sam Reinhart notched three apples as the Kootenay Ice pulled off a first-round upset against the Calgary Hitmen in the 5-3 win... Trevor Cox (No. 2 star; 2G-1A, +4) and Cole Sanford (1G-2A, +3) scored three points apiece in the Tigers’ 4-1 win over the Broncos… Seattle Thunderbirds puck-stopper Taran Kozun (No. 3 star) turned away all 24 pucks that came his way in his club’s series-clinching 5-0 victory over the Everett Silvertips.

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