In a draft year where goaltenders are considered an afterthought, it was those same men between the pipes who stole the show at the 2009 Canadian Hockey League/National Hockey League Top Prospects Game skills competition.

This year's draft is going to be loaded with forward prospects after last year's defence-heavy lottery picks, but none of that mattered Tuesday where players such as potential first overall pick John Tavares were constantly stymied by an underappreciated crop of goaltenders.

Two 10-minute frames of three-on-three hockey provided plenty of chances but few finishes, leaving players like London's Tavares and Brampton's Matt Duchene gripping their sticks.

"I think (the goaltenders) were really good and they're the four best goaltenders available for the draft this year in North America so they're going to be that good," Duchene said.

Team Cherry's white squad won the highly-entertaining three-on-three game which featured a running clock and quick substitutions. At one point Duchene was leading a two-on-one rush when the whistle blew for a line change. Duchene slapped his stick on the ice out of frustration after being held in check during most of the skills competition.

"I think we would have scored there so hopefully tomorrow (during the game) nothing like that happens," he said.

Saginaw Spirit goaltender Edward Pasquale helped lead Team Cherry to the victory, twice making highlight reel saves on Guelph Storm forward Taylor Beck during the same shift. Beck's first chance came with controversy as the Storm forward ripped a shot past Pasquale on a one-timer. The shot flew back out just as quickly where the ref overruled the decision of the goal judge, determining the puck had hit the crossbar and not the goal.

"I think it just hit the crossbar," Pasquale claimed. "I wasn't too sure. The ref said crossbar so I wasn't going to argue with it."

"No, it was in, that was in," said Duchene, whose team benefited from the ref's judgment. "The (goal judge) put the light on, we saw the mesh jump up. It was in for sure.

"I'm on the other team so I'm not going to be biased or anything. That was definitely in."

Pasquale said the morning workouts may have contributed to an advantage for the goaltenders. The players underwent exercises in the morning which may have kept the goaltenders fresh.

"I think we got off easy this morning in that we didn't do testing this morning so they could have been a little bit tired near the end there," he said.

Tavares offered another explanation for the goalie dominance.

"When you have new teammates, you're getting used to your surroundings, it might have been an advantage when you look at it that way," Tavares said.

"Goalies were good as well. Just one of those games."

None of the goaltenders were willing to give any clipboard material in advance of Wednesday's game. However, Team Orr's Olivier Roy credited the defence in front of him for the stellar play of the goaltenders and predicted a low-scoring game.

"It will be a close game, like 3-2 game or something like that," he predicted.

"It's not an all star game, it's a real game," Tavares said. "It's going to be like any other game we play in our season so it could be but it could not be (high-scoring)."

Wednesday's game will provide another opportunity for the goaltending crop of Roy, Pasquale, Owen Sound's Scott Stajcer and Kootenay's Nathan Lieuwen to steal the spotlight from the gifted forwards.