Toronto Marlies 2 at GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 0

March 16, 2012

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Ben Scrivens turned aside 31 shots on Friday while leading the Toronto Marlies to a 2-0 victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins at Van Andel Arena.

Ty Conklin stopped all but one of the 21 shots he faced on the other end, but the old-fashioned goaltenders’ duel went the way of the North Division leaders, who earned their first win in five tries against the Griffins this season.

The Griffins, who are now 7-3-1-0 since Conklin’s arrival and 27-24-6-4 overall, will host their other Ontario rival on Saturday when the Hamilton Bulldogs come calling at 7 p.m.

Toronto (35-21-4-3) scored the only goal it would need at 6:47 of the opening period, just as a penalty to the Marlies’ Joe Colborne expired. Storming into the Grand Rapids zone on a 2-on-1 shorthanded break, Philippe Dupuis carried the puck down the right side and patiently waited until he was at the right hashmarks to whip a shot past Conklin.

The Marlies had several chances to pad their lead – a second-period goal was disallowed after the puck was kicked in, and Ryan Hamilton rang a shot off the crossbar midway through the third – but they could not shake the Griffins, who were playing their first home game following five straight on the road.

Grand Rapids out-shot Toronto 12-6 during the final 20 minutes to no avail, and after the Griffins pulled Conklin for an extra attacker with 1:16 remaining, Jerry D’Amigo threw the puck into the home team’s empty net from the blue line with 13.6 seconds left for the final margin.

With tonight’s attendance of 7,198, the 2,276th fan through the turnstiles before Saturday’s game against Hamilton will be the 5 millionth fan in Griffins franchise history. Gates will open at 6 p.m.

Three Stars: 1. TOR Scrivens (W, 31 saves); 2. TOR Dupuis (game-winning goal); 3. GR Conklin (L, 20 saves)