Thursday’s 3 Stars: Quine helps Petes upset London

No. 1 star: Alan Quine, Peterborough Petes (OHL)

The 18-year-old centre raised his game to help beat the league's best, notching two points to help the Petes break their eight-game losing streak by beating the powerhouse London Knights 5-3.

The Petes came in on an 0-6-0-2 funk while missing frontline talent such as winger Matt Puempel (suspension) and defenceman Slater Koekkoek (whose long-term status is in doubt due to a shoulder injury). They also lost 7-4 in London last Friday, so it seemed like they were in for much of the same when the Knights' Vladislav Namestnikov scored just 1:04 into the game. However, after the Petes buckled down and pulled even before the period was out when Quine went top cheddar on Michael Houser.

That gave Peterborough a jolt of confidence that they carried through the rest of the night. Quine, a Detroit Red Wings draft pick, helped set up rookie Trevor Murphy's eventual game-winning goal with 7:12 to play, as he and Austin Watson did a criss-cross behind the net that sucked in Knights defenders and let Murphy set up for a one-timer from the faceoff dot. It was Murphy's first OHL goal.

No. 2 star: Daniel Catenacci, Owen Sound Attack (OHL)

Many of the names and faces have changed since the Attack played the Windsor Spitfires in a conference final seven months ago. It has remained a good rivalry since each team has stayed competitive despite the heavy turnover. Catenacci, 18, came through two points of his own to help the Attack win 6-4 in Windsor to pull even with the Spitfires for fifth in the OHL's Western Conference. The Buffalo Sabres third-rounder converted a feed from captain Mike Halmo (two assists) to give the Attack a 3-2 second-period lead and also set up a third-period tying goal with 9:27 left. Cameron Brace took it from there, scoring short-handed with 7:04 to go and getting the empty-netter after neatly cutting off a pass at centre ice.

Catenacci has 19 goals for the Attack. That's only one more than he had before Christmas in his age-17 season with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, but he scored only eight over the duration. He will probably double that this season.

The Attack's rally spoiled 17-year-old Chris Marchese's three-point debut for the Spitfires. Marchese, a former first-round choice acquired in a trade with Erie this week, was put on star centre Alexander Khokhlachev's line and scored his first goal for Windsor on a great rush early in the third period.

No. 3 star: Brent Turnbull, Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL)

Since he's a native of Stellarton, N.S., one can only wonder how much relish Turnbull took in beating a team from his home province. The 17-year-old forward scored the clinching goal with 3:10 left, capping a two-point night in the Titan's 3-1 home win over the Halifax Mooseheads.

Mooseheads star Nathan MacKinnon sat out to rest a shoulder injury.

Honourable mention: Ivan Telegin, Barrie Colts (OHL)

Telegin filled the hole left by Team Canada members Tanner Pearson's and Mark Scheifele's absence, leading Barrie to a 2-1 win over the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. The Colts came in winless on the year vs. the Majors, but Telegin, a candidate for Team Russia, was simply the best man on the ice. The Winnipeg Jets prospect scored the winning goal late in the second period and also shone killing penalties.

Potent notables — London's Seth Griffith ran his point streak to 11 games with his 25th goal of the season ... Eighteen-year-old Barrie goalie Clint Windsor stopped 24-of-25 shots; the Colts have won four of his past five starts ... Defenceman Broderick Kelly, a 16-year-old Junior B call-up, scored his first OHL goal in the Niagara IceDogs' 7-0 walkover against the last-place Erie Otters. IceDogs goalie Christopher Festarini got his first career shutout, stopping 28 shots against his old team. Captain Andrew Agozzino (five points) and Sabres prospect Steven Shipley (four) padded their stats in the rout.

(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 (photo: Getty Images).