The Toronto Marlies had the opportunity to clinch all three league titles this weekend and break more franchise records in the process.

With the Marlies giving opportunity to recently-signed younger players and rotating out their more established guys, a letdown in results would not have been an unexpected consequence.

That proved far from the case, however, as the Marlies claimed five of a possible six points, allowing the Marlies to clinch the North Division and Eastern Conference titles, along with crowning themselves AHL regular season champions.

The last victory of the weekend, earned in Albany, gave the Marlies a new franchise record with 110 points for the season, surpassing the 109 achieved in 2007-08.

The Toronto Marlies are now 7-0-0-1 in their last eight games — an impressive run given the rotating roster during that time.

Toronto’s goal differential is now plus-100 for the season, 47 better than Ontario Reign who own the second best differential.

In addition to all the awards, the Marlies recorded their 52nd victory of the season, which is a new franchise high.

The special teams made a big difference this week, with the powerplay registering four times on 14 attempts. Good discipline led to Toronto taking only six penalties — including zero in one game for the first time this season against Syracuse — and they were perfect while down a man.

The Marlies also recorded their 25th win on home ice with three games left to play at Ricoh Coliseum.

Toronto Marlies 4 vs. Lake Erie Monsters 3 (OT)

Early-period goals were the order of the day against the Lake Erie Monsters on Friday evening.

Alex Broadhurst was allowed to walk out in front and open the scoring 1:26 into the first period. Eight seconds later, Toronto responded through Connor Brown to tie up the game as the teams exchanged defensive errors.

The Marlies held the advantage at even strength, outshooting the visitors 2:1 in the opening 20 minutes, but they didn’t take a lead into intermission.

Toronto put their noses in front 66 seconds into the second period as Ben Smith profited from Zach Hyman’s hard work and then teed up Rich Clune for the 2-1 goal.

Lake Erie were more competitive in the middle frame, but they found themselves down 3-1 with a period remaining after Colin Smith’s powerplay marker assisted by Connor Carrick and Josh Leivo.

The visitors came out hard in the final frame, tying the game up inside five minutes. Lake Erie appeared the more likely team to win it in regulation, with Toronto thankful to Antoine Bibeau as he turned aside 16 shots to send the game to overtime.

A penalty earned by Clune meant his team began OT with an extra man, and it took just 27 seconds for the Marlies to take advantage. Brendan Leipsic’s perfect cross-ice feed found Mark Arcobello, who put home the game winner.

Syracuse Crunch 3 vs. Toronto Marlies 2 (SO)

Toronto got off to a fast start on Saturday versus Syracuse, with Shane Conacher netting the opening goal 33 seconds into the game. The Marlies were controlling play and creating plenty of opportunities, but defensive mistakes meant they ended the first period down 2-1.

The middle frame saw no additions to the score line as Toronto were denied at every turn by the brilliance of Kristers Gudlevskis between the pipes.

After finally tying the game through Mark Arcobello at the 4:45 mark of the third period, the game turned into a duel between the goaltenders as Kasmir Kaskisuo kept the Marlies in the game with Syracuse well on top in the final period of regulation. Gudlevskis produced some late saves, including an incredible right pad reaction stop, to deny Toronto snatching a last gasp victory.

Overtime did not produce a result, with Kaskisuo once again brilliant. Toronto was made to rue four unused powerplay opportunities and countless other chances during the first 40 minutes as the Crunch won the shootout on the ninth shooter.

Toronto Marlies 3 vs. Albany Devils 0

A Sunday matinee in Albany matched up two teams with not a whole lot to play for. The Devils have been chasing the Marlies’ tail all season and look certain to finish second in the division and conference.

Toronto required two points to set a new franchise record for points attained in a single season. They achieved that target thanks to the brilliance of Antoine Bibeau and success in the special teams battle.

A lethargic opening 20 minutes produced only 13 shots combined as both teams struggled to find their rhythm.

A penalty-ridden second period broke the game open in Toronto’s favour. Moments after Mike Sislo was turned aside by Bibeau on a shorthanded rush, the Marlies opened the scoring at the seven-minute mark.

Brendan Leipsic teed up Eric Faille, who scored with a wonderful backhand shot that struck the crossbar before bouncing down and spinning over the goal line.

Toronto’s penalty kill remained defiant, especially during a four-minute stint after Stuart Percy was hauled off for high sticking.

A second powerplay goal for the Marlies came with four seconds of the second period to play, when a blast from Andrew Nielson at the point was deflected home by Rich Clune.

The home team threw the proverbial kitchen sink at Toronto during the final period, with Antoine Bibeau turning aside 16 shots to keep the home team at bay, enabling Zach Hyman to ice the game with an empty net goal with two minutes remaining.

Player Notes

– The AHL announced on Tuesday that T.J. Brennan has been awarded the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s outstanding defenseman for the 2015-16 season, as voted on by coaches, players and members of the media in each of the league’s 30 cities. It’s the second time in three seasons that Brennan has taken home the award. Brennan is one away from the 25-goal mark and currently sits with 67 points in 67 games, good for third overall in AHL scoring. The next closest defenceman, San Diego’s Brandon Montour, is 12 points behind Brennan.

– Colin Smith‘s three-point weekend included his 20th goal of the season.

– Connor Carrick’s assist in Friday’s game was his first point as a Toronto Marlie.

– Tyler Wong, Mason Marchment and Chase Witala all made their Marlies debut in Syracuse. Originally signed to ATOs, the three youngsters have been signed to AHL deals.

– Willie Corrin recorded his first professional point with the assist on the second goal against Syracuse.

– Sunday’s game featured the first professional point for 19-year-old defenceman Andrew Nielsen, who had the primary assist on Rich Clune’s goal in Albany.

– Rich Clune put up a goal and an assist to take his points tally to a career high of 24.

– Mark Arcobello’s scored twice to take his tally to 25 for the season. He’s now the Marlies leading goal scorer this season, surpassing T.J Brennan.

– Zach Hyman’s empty net goal was his 15th goal of the season.

– Antoine Bibeau turned aside 35 shots for his third shutout of the season. They have all come in the span of the last twelve games.

– Josh Leivo recorded three assists in two games, taking his points tally to 48 in 51 games.

– Brendan Leipsic extended his point streak to six games with two helpers in as many games over the weekend.

– Alex Stalock has left the Marlies and headed home after internal face-to-face discussions with team management.

– Viktor Loov, Nikita Soshnikov, Sam Carrick, Kasperi Kapanen, William Nylander, Tobias Lindberg, T.J. Brennan, Garret Sparks, Frederik Gauthier and Andrew Campbell have returned from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

– With the Orlando Solar Bears season over, Eric Faille, Brett Findlay, T.J Foster, Patrick Watling and Brenden Miller have joined the Marlies.

Upcoming Games

Wednesday, April 13 — Hartford at Toronto, 11:00 am EST

Saturday, April 16 — Rochester at Toronto, 5:00 pm EST

Sunday, April 17 — Rochester at Toronto, 3:00 pm EST

Marlies Player Stats — April 12

Player Pos GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SHG SOG SH% T.J. Brennan D 67 24 43 67 36 53 8 0 164 14.6 Mark Arcobello C 47 25 32 57 19 22 8 2 166 15.1 Colin Smith (total) C 74 20 36 56 7 35 3 1 149 13.4 Colin Smith (TOR) C 20 7 15 22 11 2 1 0 34 20.6 Brendan Leipsic LW 63 20 34 54 16 53 5 1 165 12.1 Josh Leivo LW 51 17 31 48 14 14 5 0 158 10.8 William Nylander C 37 18 27 45 8 10 3 0 110 16.4 Zach Hyman RW 58 15 22 37 32 24 0 4 129 11.6 Tobias Lindberg (total) LW 53 11 23 34 14 18 3 0 121 9.1 Tobias Lindberg (TOR) LW 19 6 6 12 4 10 3 0 54 11.1 Sam Carrick C 50 15 18 33 11 90 3 0 110 13.6 Matt Frattin RW 70 12 21 33 2 51 2 0 130 9.2 Nikita Soshnikov LW 50 18 10 28 24 18 3 2 119 15.1 Connor Brown RW 32 11 16 27 10 8 3 1 72 15.3 Connor Carrick (total) D 51 10 17 27 24 52 3 1 110 9.1 C. Carrick (TOR) D 4 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 6 0 Richard Panik (X) RW 33 9 16 25 5 34 0 0 66 13.6 Kasperi Kapanen LW 42 9 16 25 8 8 4 0 64 14.1 Richard Clune LW 47 8 16 24 19 146 2 2 43 18.6 Andrew Campbell D 65 9 14 23 39 68 0 0 86 10.5 Stuart Percy D 56 4 19 23 3 47 0 0 64 6.3 Rinat Valiev D 58 3 19 22 33 30 0 1 57 5.3 Justin Holl D 58 5 15 20 33 15 0 0 93 5.4 Casey Bailey (X) RW 38 4 14 18 5 16 0 0 55 7.3 Brett Findlay C 39 6 11 17 9 6 0 0 54 11.1 Frederik Gauthier C 54 6 11 17 17 10 0 0 50 12 Ben Smith (total) RW 17 12 4 16 3 4 4 1 46 26.1 Ben Smith (TOR) RW 3 4 2 6 4 0 1 0 13 30.8 Viktor Loov D 53 3 12 15 13 40 0 0 75 4 Ryan Rupert (X) C 29 6 6 12 11 14 1 0 30 20 Eric Faille RW 14 5 2 7 2 2 1 0 24 20.8 John Kurtz (total) LW 38 3 3 6 0 38 0 0 27 11.1 John Kurtz (TOR) LW 13 1 3 4 5 0 0 0 11 9.1 James Martin D 17 0 5 5 1 13 0 0 19 0 David Kolomatis D 21 1 3 4 11 8 0 0 19 5.3 Byron Froese (X) C 4 3 0 3 -1 0 1 0 13 23.1 Shane Conacher RW 6 2 1 3 2 0 0 0 11 18.2 Scott Harrington D 17 1 2 3 4 14 0 0 20 5 Frank Corrado (X) D 7 0 3 3 3 2 0 0 7 0 Taylor Doherty D 11 0 3 3 4 20 0 0 7 0 Tony Cameranesi F 5 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 33.3 Rylan Schwartz (X) C 5 1 0 1 -1 0 0 0 6 16.7 Eric Baier (X) D 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 Willie Corrin D 3 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 3 0 Andrew Nielsen D 3 0 1 1 -1 0 0 0 3 0 Ty Stanton D 4 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 Jack Rodewald (X) RW 7 0 1 1 1 4 0 0 7 0 Justin Johnson RW 8 0 1 1 0 36 0 0 5 0 T.J. Foster RW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 Jordan Hickmott RW 2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 2 0 Mason Marchment LW 2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 2 0 Tylor Spink (X) C 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Chase Witala LW 2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 3 0 Tyler Wong RW 2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 2 0

Marlies Goalie Stats — April 12