HAMILTON, Ontario- Grand Rapids Griffins captain Darren Haydar extended his season-high assist streak to five games with two assists in a 3-1 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs on Wednesday night at Copps Coliseum. The Griffins have earned a point in five consecutive games (4-0-1) and the win keeps them atop the North Division standings.

Jimmy Howard stopped 32-of-33 shots in net for Grand Rapids (24-8-5-3), while Cedrick Desjardins made 35 saves for the Bulldogs. Howard was also a big cog in the Griffins’ successful penalty kill, which denied the Bulldogs on all five of their chances. Those five kills extended Grand Rapids’ streak to 35 consecutive penalties killed through nine games to match a franchise record.

After Howard and Desjardins combined to stop the first 46 shots of the game, Mattias Ritola broke the scoreless tie by notching his team-leading 15th goal with 6:33 remaining in the second period. On a Griffins’ power play, Haydar controlled the puck in the left corner and sent a cross-crease pass to Ritola, who one-timed the offering into the back of the net. Ritola has scored a goal in three consecutive games and is the owner of a five-game point streak (4-3-7), while Haydar has seven points (1-6-7) during his own five-game point streak.

Haydar picked up his second assist of the game on Evan McGrath’s power-play goal, which came just 2:17 after Ritola’s tally. The Griffins’ captain blasted a shot from the point that trickled through Desjardins’ pads and McGrath was in position to put home the rebound, giving Grand Rapids a 2-0 lead.

Howard’s shutout bid ended on Hamilton’s 30th shot, which came with 7:20 remaining in the third period. Ben Maxwell skated in on the right side and threw the puck into the crease, where a waiting Ryan Flinn hammered it into the left side of the net to bring the Bulldogs to within one at 2-1.

Jamie Tardif put the Griffins back up by two, 3-1, with his goal at of the third period. Off of a faceoff in the Hamilton zone, Jakub Kindl fired a shot from the point that Tardif redirected inside the right goalpost for his eighth goal of the season.

Grand Rapids takes its five-game point streak home to Van Andel Arena to take on North Division rival Manitoba on Friday night at 7 p.m.

Three Stars: 1. GR Haydar (2 assists); 2. GR Howard (32 saves); 3. HAM Desjardins (35 saves)