P.A. Raiders’ Leon Draisaitl caps 4-point night with drop pass on OT winner: Saturday’s 3 Stars

No. 1 star: Leon Draisaitl, Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)

Him again? 'Fraid so. Draisaitl, one night removed from scoring an overtime winner on the road, led the Raiders to another comeback win on the road, 5-4 over the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The Wheat Kings held a 4-2 edge when the 18-year-old projected NHL first-rounder ripped in a goal from the slot with 6:53 to play to halve the margin. With 15 seconds left, the puck was in the corner to the right of Brandon's net when the Raiders' Jayden Hart jimmied it loose. Draisaitl centred to Chance Braid, who whipped in the tying goal. The rest before overtime did little to settle Brandon, since just 18 seconds in, Draistail weaved from his own end into the high slot and sent a between-the-legs drop pass to Sawyer Lange (1G, +2), who scored the winner.

That might not have been the prettiest P.A. goal on the night. Winnipeg Jets first-rounder Josh Morrissey had an unassisted effort in the first period.

No. 2 star: Jérome Verrier, Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)

Verrier (1G-3A, +2) had four points in the third period to help Drummondville get by the Sherbrooke Phoenix 6-4 in a last-shot-wins game. The hometown Drummondville native whom the Winnipeg Jets took a look at before season helped pull a potential home loss out of the fire. First Verrier set up a game-tying power-play goal 3:07 into the third. Verrier then had the first apple on back-to-back goals by recently acquired overage Frédérick Gaudreau that vaulted the Volts into a 5-3 advantage. A goal set up by NHL draft prospect Daniel Audette gave the Phoenix hope, but the 19-year-old Verrier scored the clincher with 2:07 remaining. On the year, he has a team-high 22 goals.

No. 3 star: Jay Merkley, Swift Current Broncos (WHL)

The Broncos coaching staff challenged the 18-year-old Merkley, who came in with only one point in his past five games, by moving him to a top line with linchpins Graham Black and Colby Cave. Merkley responded with his first three-point game since Sept. 30, 2011 to help Swift Current gut out a 4-3 win over Red Deer.

Merkley (2G-1A, +3) completed the night by making a big defensive play to save a tying goal with 29 seconds left. The centre's two goals, including the winner with 9:04 left on a setup from Black, both put Swift Current into the lead.

Honourable mention: Darby Llewellyn, Kitchener Rangers (OHL)

The young Rangers earned their second win in a row, with 17- or 18-year-old American-born players doing all of the scoring during a 5-3 road win over the Barrie Colts. Llewellyn (3G) had his third multi-goal game in eight days as he buried the hat trick. The Ann Arbor, Mich., native converted twice on power plays — at least someone from Michigan can convert, eh? — to pull Kitchener level at 3-3 midway through the final frame. Fellow 17-year-olds Ryan MacInnis and Logan Schmidt assisted on each of those goals. After rookie defenceman Frank Hora scored the winner with 91 seconds left, Llewellyn got the empty-netter.

Honourable mention: Spencer Watson, Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)

The 17-year-old completed his first OHL hat trick in style by scoring an unassisted tiebreaking goal with 7:35 left to help the penalty-plagued Fronts win 6-4 over rival Belleville. Watson (3G-1A, +3) came in on a rush and crossed up Belleville goalie Braydon Banitsiotis with a well-placed shot that was almost like a change-up.

The London, Ont., native also had three points in the first half of the game before Kingston, which went 11-for-12 on the penalty kill, had to bunker down and play short-handed. The Frontenacs were penalized seven times in the third period alone, yet had enough in the tank to win.

Honourable mention: Boston Leier, Regina Pats (WHL)

Leier (2G-3A, +3) helped the Pats recover from blowing a five-goal lead in their previous outing with a 6-1 romp over the struggling the Moose Jaw Warriors. The overage wing was in on the first three Pats goals as they steadily built a lead, then scored late in the second and early in the third with 19-year-old Braden Christoffer (2G-2A, +2) drawing helpers on both. Leier scored 18 goals last season while playing all 72 games for Medicine Hat, but already has 19 in 27 outings as an overage.

Honourable mention: Francis Beauvillier, Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)

Last-place Shawinigan caught Gatineau looked ahead to its Sunday showdown against league-leading Blainville-Boisbriand, winning in a 3-2 stunner. Beauvillier (2G, +2), an overage named co-captain earlier in the week, scored late in each of the first two periods to help Shawinigan build a three-goal lead. The Florida Panthers sixth-rounder also went 13-of-21 in the faceoff circle (61.9 per cent). The Cataractes were credited with winning nearly 65% of the draws, so you can tell that 1) Gatineau really missed injured centre Simon Tardif-Richard and 2) Gatineau really had an off-night.

Potent notables — Ottawa Senators first-rounder Curtis Lazar had a three-point, plus-2 night in Edmonton's win over Kootenay. Lazar scored his 17th goal, which is more than he had in the entire first half as a 17-year-old ... Everett overage Josh Winquist (3A, -1 in 5-1 win over Saskatoon) extended his club-record point streak to 17 games ... Dallas Stars selection Branden Troock (1G-2A, +2) led Seattle to a 6-3 doubling over Victoria ... Winnipeg Jets-drafted Team Canada goalie hopeful Eric Comrie made 26 saves and stopped 5-of-6 shootout attempts in Tri-City's 2-1 win over Spokane ... Kelowna backup goalie Jackson Whistle stopped 35-of-37 and all three shootout attempts in a 3-2 verdict over Kamloops ... In the OHL, André Burakovsky (2G-2A, +3) and Connor McDavid (1G-3A, +3) helped Erie maul Mississauga 7-1 ... Carolina Hurricanes prospect Sergey Tolchinsky (1G-3A, +2) also had a four-point outing during Sault Ste. Marie's win over Niagara ... Vancouver Canucks first-rounder Bo Horvat (3A, +3) was named first star during London's 4-2 road win at Peterborough ... Saginaw's Detroit Red Wings-drafted goalie, Jake Paterson, was pulled after allowing four goals on 10 shots in a 5-2 home loss to Oshawa ... NHL draft prospect Alex Nedeljkovic made 46 saves to help Plymouth earn a point in a 3-2 shootout loss at Owen Sound. The Attack's shootout winner came from 17-year-old rookie defenceman Thomas Schemitsch, who has three goals in 23 career games ... In the QMJHL, Danick Martel (1G-1A) was first star as Blainville-Boisbriand doubled Baie-Comeau 4-2 in a tilt between division leaders ... Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Jean-Sébastien Dea's two goals gave Rouyn-Noranda its winning margin at Saint John, 5-3 ... Detroit Red Wings first-rounder Anthony Mantha got his QMJHL-leading 27th goal during Val-d'Or's 6-2 win at Moncton.

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.