GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Behind multi-point efforts from John Leonard (1-1—2) and Ian Mitchell (1-1—2), the Grand Rapids Griffins defeated the Toronto Marlies 5-2 at Van Andel Arena on Friday.

Grand Rapids’ 10-0-0-1 start to the season remained its best in franchise history, as they recorded 21 points in 11 games, and their 6-0 start at home stands as the best since it went 8-0 in 2009-10. Leonard’s nine game point streak tied former Griffin Riley Barber’s franchise-record to begin the season, and to begin a Grand Rapids career, while Carter Gylander notched his second AHL win this season as he recorded 21 saves.

Grand Rapids tallied the first goal of the game in the opening period when Tyler Angle won a faceoff in the right circle, dished the puck back to Eduards Tralmaks and he sent a wrister into the net from the high slot 4:57 in to establish a 1-0 lead. With 1:54 remaining, Sheldon Dries won the draw, passed the puck along the boards to Mitchell and he sent a shot from the point that bounced off the skate of Brandsegg-Nygård and past Vyacheslav Peksa to gain a two-goal ledger. 

The Marlies attempted to put one on the board 3:42 into the second frame as Benoit-Olivier Groulx skated in front of the paint and tried to tuck it past Gylander, but the Alberta native made a sprawling save to his right to prevent the goal.

Brandsegg-Nygård notched his second of the night 1:48 into the final frame to claim a 3-0 lead for the Griffins. Jakub Rychlovský skated down from the blue line, tapped a pass to the Norwegian in the left circle and he ripped a one-timer into the net. Toronto cut their deficit 1:49 later and made it 3-1 when Ryan Tverberg fired one from the left circle past Gylander. 

The Griffins reclaimed their three-goal lead when Leonard skated behind the net and passed Amadeus Lombardi the puck in the paint where he stuffed it home with 6:46 on the clock, but the Marlies answered again when Marc Johnstone found it in a scramble at the net and tapped it in with 3:56 to go. Leonard had the insurance empty-net goal when he cleared it from along the boards in the Griffins’ zone at the 17 minute mark and buried it, claiming the 5-2 victory. 

Notes

• Dries extended his point streak to five games while Lombardi extended his point streak to seven games.

Box Score

Toronto 0 0 2 - 2

Grand Rapids 2 0 3 - 5

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Tralmaks 5 (Angle), 4:57. 2, Grand Rapids, Mitchell 1 (Dries), 18:06. Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Shaw Tor (interference), 19:46.

3rd Period-3, Grand Rapids, Brandsegg-Nygård 2 (Rychlovský, Mitchell), 1:48. 4, Toronto, Tverberg 3 (Prokop), 3:37. 5, Grand Rapids, Lombardi 2 (Leonard, Shine), 13:14. 6, Toronto, Johnstone 1 (Johnson, Paré), 16:04. 7, Grand Rapids, Leonard 10 (Gustafsson), 17:00 (EN). Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Toronto 7-7-9-23. Grand Rapids 12-8-7-27.

Power Play Opportunities-Toronto 0 / 0; Grand Rapids 0 / 1.

Goalies-Toronto, Peksa 0-1-0 (26 shots-22 saves). Grand Rapids, Gylander 2-0-1 (23 shots-21 saves).

A-7,922

Three Stars

1. GR Brandsegg-Nygård (two goals) 2. GR Leonard (empty net goal, assist) 3. Gylander (W, 21 svs.)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 10-0-0-1 (21 pts.) / Wed., Nov. 19 at Rockford 8 p.m. EST

Toronto Marlies: 6-6-1-1 (14 pts.) / Wed., Nov. 19 at Belleville 10:30 a.m.

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins