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Thursday’s 3 Stars: Greenaway shows Fronts the way; Ashley guides Herd through loss of MacKinnon

Neate Sager

No. 1 star: Darcy Greenaway, Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)

On this night, it is great to be named Darcy and have your 19th birthday on the 19th and a last name ending in Y — coincidences shared by this evening's first two stars. Greenaway scored his first major junior hat trick, including the third-period tying and winning goals that lifted the Fronts to a 5-4 comeback win over the Peterborough Petes.

The Petes, who desperately needed to pick up two points to help their playoff chances, took a one-goal lead into the final period against the Ontario league's 19th-place team. Then Greenaway made sure the game played out according to Svobodian phophesy. (That's another way of saying no want seems to want to win.) With 9:41 to play, the Frontenacs cycled the puck effectively and pulled the Petes out of position, allowing Greenaway to pounce on a rebound and flick it by goalie Andrew D'Agostini. During a power play a few minutes later, Greenaway made a smart play to deflect a lead pass into the corner, allowing the Frontenacs to set up in the Petes zone. Eventually, a scramble situation ensued and the 19-year-old native of Wilton, Ont., collected the garbage to flick in the winning goal.

The odd similarities between Darcy Greenaway and the Halifax Mooseheads' Darcy Ashley go even farther. Each plays for a team located in a city where yours truly obtained a university degree and even attended a class or two. What does that mean? Absolutely nothing.

No. 2 star: Darcy Ashley, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)

Ashley scored two third-period goals to help Halifax down the Rimouski Océanic despite losing star centre Nathan MacKinnon to injury. The pint-sized Prince Edward Islander, who's listed at 5-foot-7 and 180 pounds, put the Mooseheads ahead for good 2:32 into the final frame by converting a great pass from Konrad Abelthauser. Less than three minutes later, the Océanic turned the puck over and Ashley swooped into to collect the disc and deposit it into the goal, giving himself a nice early 19th birthday present (he celebrates it Sunday, which is Feb. 19).

That was part of a rally in which the Mooseheads scored four goals in a four-minute, 28-second span to start off a big weekend homestand with a win. The downside for them is that MacKinnon never returned to the bench after suffering either an arm or hand injury after blocking a shot. The 16-year-old phenom finished his shift, but went down the tunnel to the dressing room as soon he got off the ice. Halifax athletic therapist Diane Ouimet never came back to the bench, so at the very least MacKinnon might be questionable for Halifax's game on Friday vs. Victoriaville.

No. 3 star: Stefan Noesen, Plymouth Whalers (OHL)

The Texas tornado helped the Whalers get their first regulation-time win since coach-GM Mike Vellucci was suspended for abuse of game officials. Noesen, an Ottawa Senators first-round pick, scored a short-handed goal and also dished out an assist to help the Whalers pull out a 4-3 win over the rival Windsor Spitfires. Plymouth was outplayed vastly in the opening 40 minutes. The shots on goal were 41-24 for Windsor, including 32-9 at one point. However, Noesen kept their heart beating, beating John Cullen for an early short-handed goal and making a play that led to rookie Danny Vanderwiel scoring his fifth goal in four games during the second period to knot it 2-2. The teams traded goals in the third before stay-at-home Whalers defenceman Colin MacDonald, with his first of the season, snapped the deadlock with 2:25 to play.

Honourable mention: Sven Andrighetto, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL)

The 18-year-old Zurich native assisted on the tying goal and scored the shootout winner to give the Huskies a 3-2 road win over the Drummondville Voltigeurs. The shootout winner capped the Huskies' comeback from a 2-0 deficit entering the third period. With the win, Rouyn-Noranda is four points clear of the P.E.I. Rocket for the Q's final playoff spot.

Potent notables — Oddly enough, a pair of 16-year-olds, Kingston's Ryan Kujawinski and Peterborough's Stephen Nosad, had two-goal nights. Each team also had a rookie, defenceman Warren Steele of the Fronts and the Nick Ritchie for the Petes, record three assists ... draft-year defenceman Nick Ebert was the game's first star in the Plymouth-Windsor match.

(Game recaps available on the news page.)

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet (photos: OHL Images, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League).