TORONTO -- Dominik Shine became just the third player in franchise history to skate in 500 games, and recorded a goal in the Sunday outing, as the Grand Rapids Griffins took down the Toronto Marlies 4-2 at the Coca-Cola Coliseum.

The Griffins continued their franchise-best start and improved to 19-1-0-1, recording 39 points through 21 games, while their 9-0-0-1 edge on the road remained a franchise best. Grand Rapids capped off its season series with the Marlies, sweeping them 4-0. Carson Bantle (1-1—2) recorded his first two-point game in the AHL, while Ondrej Becher extended his point streak to three games with an assist. Dustin Tokarski received the nod for his first start with the Griffins, tallying 25 saves.

The Griffins’ best look in the opening period came when Antti Tuomisto blasted one from the slot through traffic, but it was blocked by goaltender Ken Appleby. Tokarski stopped every shot he faced, including one from Luke Haymes, who tried to stuff one past Tokarski’s pads at the net front, but he made the save with 5:27 left. The teams remained scoreless through the first 20 minutes, with Grand Rapids being outshot 3-12.

Bantle notched the first goal of the game for the Griffins 6:01 into the second slate. Alex Doucet won a puck battle along the far boards, dished the puck to Bantle in the left circle and he fired it past Appleby. Grand Rapids claimed a two-goal lead 42 seconds later when Ian Mitchell slid the puck across the top of the zone to Tuomisto, and he fired a one-timer past the blocker of Appleby.

Just 10 seconds into the final frame, the Griffins grabbed a 3-0 advantage when Eduards Tralmaks found the puck on the doorstep and slotted it into the top right corner. While on the power play, Mitchell let a one-timer fly from the top of the zone and Shine tipped it in with 12:22 on the clock to claim a 4-0 lead. 

Toronto broke Tokarski’s shutout bid while on a 5-on-3 when Benoit-Olivier Groulx sniped one into the top right corner with 2:49 left. With 30 seconds to go Logan Shaw buried a centering pass from Jacob Quillan to cut the Marlies’ deficit to 4-2, but their comeback effort fell short as the Griffins came away with a 4-2 victory.

Notes

• Grand Rapids’ points percentage of .929 remained the best in the league.
• Former Michigan Wolverine captain Nolan Moyle recorded his first AHL point with an assist.
• Mitchell (0-2—2) notched his 100th AHL point.

Box Score

Grand Rapids 0 2 2 - 4

Toronto 0 0 2 - 2

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Sim Tor (tripping), 11:13.

2nd Period-1, Grand Rapids, Bantle 2 (Doucet, Moyle), 6:01. 2, Grand Rapids, Tuomisto 4 (Mitchell, Bantle), 6:42. Penalties-Lagesson Gr (tripping), 13:33; Haymes Tor (tripping), 15:28.

3rd Period-3, Grand Rapids, Tralmaks 12 (Rychlovský, Lagesson), 0:10. 4, Grand Rapids, Shine 11 (Mitchell, Becher), 7:38 (PP). 5, Toronto, Groulx 8 (Lettieri, Shaw), 17:11 (PP). 6, Toronto, Shaw 8 (Quillan, Nylander), 19:30. Penalties-Smith Tor (tripping), 1:47; Johnstone Tor (tripping), 7:23; Brandsegg-Nygård Gr (roughing), 11:05; Johnstone Tor (roughing), 11:05; Tralmaks Gr (holding), 15:39; Shine Gr (slashing), 16:50.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 3-10-4-17. Toronto 12-8-7-27.

Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 1 / 4; Toronto 1 / 3.

Goalies-Grand Rapids, Tokarski 1-0-0 (27 shots-25 saves). Toronto, Appleby 0-1-0 (17 shots-13 saves).

A-4,972

Three Stars

1. GR Bantle (goal, assist) 2. GR Tuomisto (goal) 3. GR Mitchell (two assists)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 19-1-0-1 (39 pts.) / Wed., Dec. 10 vs. Milwaukee 7 p.m.

Toronto: 10-11-1-1 (22 pts.) / Wed., Dec. 10 at Laval 7 p.m.

Photo by Toronto Marlies