Trudeau sensational, stopping 53 for 67′s; Burns pots four for Blades in losing effort: Sunday’s 3 stars

No. 1 star: Philippe Trudeau, Ottawa 67's (OHL)

Trudeau may have finally found a place to hang his frequent flyer miles.

The 6-foot-6-inch Blainville, Que., netminder was picked up by the 67's at the start of the season off the CHL waiver wire. Trudeau split last season with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and the Val-d’Or Foreurs of the QMJHL. He earned a series win with the Foreurs, but was pulled twice as they were swept in the second round by the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. He was the odd man out at training camp this year in Val-d’Or and couldn’t find a home. After a very brief stint with the Quad City Mallards of the Central Hockey League, he was picked up by the 67's on Sept. 23.

He had by far his most impressive performance to date on Sunday. Trudeau stopped 53 shots and then turned aside four of Peterborough’s five shooters in the shootout to secure a 3-2 win for the 67's. Trudeau earned his second win of the season stopping 18 shots in the third period, and six in the five-minute overtime stanza. The Petes outshot the 67's 55-37.

Left winger Brendan Bell scored the winner in the fifth round of the shootout to improve Ottawa’s record to 3-4-0-0. Michael Giugovaz blocked 34 shots in his own right, and the Petes dropped to 3-3-0-1.

Winger Taylor Fielding and blueliner Jacob Middleton dented the twine for the 67's. Stephen Nosad had a goal and an assist for the Petes.

No. 2 star: Nathan Burns, Saskatoon Blades (WHL)

The overage forward Burns has never scored more than 20 goals in a full WHL season, but he got a great headstart early in this one.

Burns had the highest scoring game of his WHL career Sunday, scoring four times and scoring the Blades only goal in the shootout in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Regina Pats. Burns was a feisty force for the Blades, earning two goals on the powerplay, but also crossing the line with three penalties, including two roughing minors. It was Burns first multi-goal game on the season.

Boston Leier had the winner in the shootout to cap off a three-point night, and Dyson Stevenson had a goal and two assists for the Pats, who withstood the Burns attack to improve to 2-5-0-0 on the season. The Blades sit in the Eastern Conference basement, dropping to 1-5-0-1. Dawson MacAulay stopped 28 shots in the win, while Troy Trombley made 29 saves in the loss.

No. 3 star: Kerby Rychel, Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

Captain Rychel led the way for the Spitfires with a goal and three assists in a 7-4 rout over the Niagara IceDogs. The line of Rychel, Josh Ho-Sang and Nikita Yazkov did the majority of the damage again for Windsor. Ho-Sang had two goals and an assist, and Yazkov had three apples in the win.

Dalen Kuchmey got the win for the Spits, stopping 23 shots. Brent Moran took the loss, giving up all seven goals in just over 53 minutes of work.

Brody Vail added a goal and an assist for Windsor, who have now won three of their last four games. They improve to 3-3-0-0 in the young season. Brandon Perlini had two assists for Niagara, who drop to 2-4-0-1 and the Central Division basement.

Honorable mention (tie): Alex Dubeau, Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) and Patrik Polivka, Victoria Royals (WHL)

These two goaltenders had eerily similar games for their teams, earning wins while facing 17 shots in a period and stopping 33+ shots overall, and both netminders were named first star of their respective games.

Dubeau stopped 34 of 35, including all 17 in the third period in a Wildcats 3-1 win over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Ivan Barbashev had two assists for the winners, who improved to 4-6-0-0. The Eagles dropped to 4-3-0-2, and American forward Cameron Darcy was held off the scoresheet for the first time this year.

Polivka stopped 33 of 34 shots, including stopping 16-of-17 in the second period, in a Royals 2-1 win over the visiting Tri-City Americans. Logan Nelson and Brandon Fushimi scored for Victoria, who came from behind for the win to improve to 4-5-0-0. The Amerks dropped to 2-5-0-1.

Honorable mention: Henri (Hank) Ikonen, Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)

The Finn they call Hank had two goals, including the winner, for the Fronts as they stay undefeated in regulation and at the top of the OHL table with a 3-2 win over the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds. Ikonen scored the first goal of the game just 14 seconds into the second period, and then notched the game winning goal halfway through the third period on the man-advantage.

Ryan Kujawinski had apples on both Ikonen goals, while fellow Finn Mikko Vainonen had the other assist on the winner. Kingston improved to 6-0-0-1, as Matt Mahalak stopped 31-of-33 in the win. Matt Murray took the loss for the Soo, stopping 33 shots.

Potent Notables – Scott Laughton (1G, 2A) now has nine points in three games since behind sent down from the Philadelphia Flyers, helping his Oshawa Generals to a 3-2 win over the Storm … Oshawa’s Michael Del Colle (1G, 1A) pulled within one point of the OHL scoring lead with 13 on the year. He is definitely enjoying playing with Laughton on the Gens PP … 17-year-olds Joey Richard (2G) of Saint John and Christophe Boivin (1G, 2A) of Acadie-Bathurst were the stars in the Sea Dogs’ 5-4 shootout win over the Titan. The game featured a wild second period, where the Sea Dogs outshot the Titan 19-16 in the frame, but only one goal was scored … Shea Theodore (3A) helped the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-3 win over the Kootenay Ice. Sam Reinhart (1G, 1A) and Jaedon Descheneau (1G, 1A) each had two points to push them into the top-5 in WHL scoring … Cameron Darcy of the Screaming Eagles may not have reached the scoresheet, but he did go 16-for-23 in the faceoff circle in his team’s 3-1 defeat … Brandon Robinson (2G) had the winner and added another for North Bay in their 4-1 win over Mississauga … Timo Maier had two goals for the Mooseheads in their 3-2 win over Drummondville. Jonathan Drouin had the other goal for Halifax, giving him five points in four games … Morgan Klimchuk had two assists for the Pats in their 5-4 win … Fabrice Herzog scored both goals for the Remparts in their 3-2 overtime loss to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, who improved to 8-0-0-0, tops in the CHL. Christopher Clapperton (1G, 2A) had points in each of the Armada’s goals, making him the first player to reach 20 points in the CHL and giving him a two-point cushion over Val-d’Or’s Anthony Mantha for the scoring lead.