Three-point night for Drouin as QMJHL takes first game of Subway Series: Monday’s 3 Stars

No. 1 Star - Jonathan Drouin, Team QMJHL (Halifax Mooseheads)

Sure, it was Drouin's linemates Charles Hudon and Anthony Mantha that wound up scoring all the goals for the QMJHL squad Monday night, but the third overall pick from last June's draft and Tampa Bay Lightning prospect had the primary assist on each goal. Team QMJHL's first goal came off a turnover created in the neutral zone by Drouin, and after gaining the line, he dropped the puck off to Hudon who wired it by Russian goaltender Ivan Nalimov for the 1-0 goal.

Early in the second period, Drouin went on an end-to-end rush, posterizing Kirill Vorobyev and setting up Hudon again for the second goal. After a couple of goals from the Russians tied the game, Drouin took a hard shot blocked by Pavel Koledov that bounced onto Mantha's stick, and he wheeled it around Nalimov for the winning goal with 4:07 left on the clock.

We could theoretically give No. 1A Star to Charles Hudon, but Drouin had a very special performance in the first game of the Subway Series. He's been absolutely red-hot lately, with 23 points in just seven league games so far in November. Counting Monday's performance, that's 26 points in his last eight.

No. 2 Star - Vladimir Tkachev, Team Russia (Avangard Omsk)

If Drouin was the best player on the ice Monday, it was a Russian that provided the game's single best highlight. Buzzing the Net's Russian contributor Andrey Osadchenko singled out Tkachev as the standout forward for the Russians in his preview of the Russian team. Midway through the second, Tkachev picked up the puck in his own zone, deked around two men and roofed a puck over Zachary Fucale.

While we wait for a video to go live, here's an Instagram video of the goal:

Sam Morin doesn't look too good for the QMJHL on this goal. He was also burned on the first Russian goal of the game, caught well out of position on a pass from Valentin Zykov to Denis Gorbunov which set up a quick two-on-one. Gorbunov passed it to Ivan Barbashev of the Moncton Wildcats to make the game 2-1. Tkachev, too, was also selected by Moncton in the Import Draft, but he opted to stick around in Russia to develop.

No. 3 Star - Charles Hudon, Team QMJHL (Chicoutimi Sagunéens)

With the offence on the winning team limited to one line, it's a little tough to avoid doubling up in some areas. Hudon's shot on the first QMJHL goal was excellent and the second goal doesn't happen unless he goes to the net, so some kudos given there to the Montreal Canadiens-select.

Just because our pal Jerome Berube posed the question on Twitter during the game, with Chicoutimi in 12th place in the league, how much would Halifax fork over to have Hudon come over and play with Drouin for the spring? The Mooseheads are certainly primed for another run, and the king's ransom paid out to Baie-Comeau for Nathan MacKinnon helped turn the Drakkar into a contender.