Ottawa 67's Jeremiah Addison has 4 third-period points in Game 1: Thursday's 3 Stars

No. 1 star: Jeremiah Addison, Ottawa 67's (OHL)

Addison (2G-2A, +4), one of the few 67's who has had post-season exposure, had his first four playoff points in the final 20 minutes of a wild and woolly 8-5 Game 1 win over the Niagara IceDogs in the nation's capital.

Ottawa coach Jeff Brown adjusted his lines, moving Sam Studnicka (1G-2A, +4) to centre while keeping Addison and fellow 18-year-old Dante Salituro (2G-3A, +4) united. The new line combined for 12 points and Addison provided energy throughout the night, squaring off in a second-period scrap with Arizona Coyotes first-rounder Brendan Perlini that denied the IceDogs, up 3-2 at the time, the services of their best left wing.

Addison buried a feed from Salituro 1:30 into the third, just 49 seconds after a go-ahead goal, to put Ottawa up 5-3. The Brampton, Ont., native pried the puck away from a defenceman and fed Studnicka for another goal. Addison also used a screen to score top-shelf for a 7-4 advantage with 13:24 left in the game. In the final minute, he passed up a chance for a hat trick and slid the puck to Salituro for an empty-netter.

No. 2 star: Taylor Dupuis, Sarnia Sting (OHL)

The overage Sting goalie stopped 32-of-34, including several big saves when the heat was on in the final minutes, to help his seventh-seeded team surprise Connor McDavid and the Erie Otters 3-2 in the road in a series opener.

The Kirkland Lake, Ont., native, who has been the backbone of the Sting, helped his team blank the league's No. 1 power play during a five-minute man advantage after defenceman Alex Black was ejected for a boarding major/game misconduct. Dupuis also robbed OHL scoring champ Dylan Strome on a second-period chance, moments before his team knotted the game 1-1 with 2:28 left in the second period. The Sting sniped again with three seconds left in the inning, then rookie Jordan Kyrou (2A, +2) set up overage Stephen Pierog for a goal 2:03 into the third. That gave the Sting enough cushion to absorb giving up one goal to Remi Elie (from McDavid, of course) and, with help from late Erie goal post, wrest away home-ice advantage.

Sting overage defenceman Josh Chapman nabbed third-star honours, while Pavel Zacha (1G-1A, +1) also had a multi-point night.

No. 3 star: Brett Pollock, Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)

Make it two division winners who stumbled on home ice on Thursday, as Pollock (2G-1A, +2) and the reigning Memorial Cup champion Oil Kings walked out of Brandon with a 4-1 Game 1 win. The Dallas Stars second-rounder, who was a nearly point-per-game player during Edmonton's march thorugh the 2014 WHL playoffs, scored his first just shy of the 12-minute mark to put his team up 2-0 early.

Brandon came into the third period down a goal, but overage defenceman Eric Roy was penalized in the opening seconds. Pollock scored on the power play for a 3-1 lead, then had a primary assist on Lane Bauer's first WHL playoff goal that sealed the game with 10:53 remaining.

Honourable mention: Vince Dunn, Niagara IceDogs (OHL)

The 18-year-old Dunn (4G) had a mortarboard trick from his defence spot, which normally rates a star, but it's hard to snub players on road teams that won. The Lindsay, Ont., native, outside of taking two minor penalties (one for embellishment), was the best IceDog during their 8-5 loss at Ottawa. Dunn made a well-timed break from the point to score his team's first goal, then potted two more in the second, when he also had an impressive open-ice check on Nathan Todd. Dunn, who seventh in goals by a defenceman in the regular season, also wired a shot by Liam Herbst in the third period. Being on the ice for an early goal against and for Ottawa's empty-netter left him even in plus/minus.

Potent notables — Ottawa Senators prospect Ben Harpur (1G-1A, +2) was named No. 1 star as Barrie opened its OHL Eastern quarter-final by shading Belleville 3-2 ... St. Louis Blues prospect Ivan Barbashev (1G-1A, +2) led Moncton over Chicoutimi 4-2 in the lone QMJHL playoff opener.

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