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The Checkers’ busiest week of the season thus far also happened to be their best.

The team won all four of its games last week, marking its longest winning streak of the season. After kicking things off with a needed 3-1 win over Milwaukee on Tuesday, just the team’s second win in its last eight games, the Checkers swept a three-in-three set over the weekend for just the second time in team history. They now enjoy a four-point lead in the South Division, a lead that easily could have been lost had they performed poorly in back-to-back games against Houston.

After a rare road game on Sunday, the Checkers return home for a back-to-back set against Peoria on Thursday and Friday before going on a six-day holiday break. The Checkers have won seven straight games against the Rivermen, including all four previous meetings this season.

Week in Review

Checkers 3, Milwaukee 1

Coming off a disappointing effort in a previous meeting with Milwaukee on Sunday, a 5-2 loss, the Checkers made up for it with a 3-1 victory in Tuesday’s rematch. After the Admirals struck first midway through the first period, Zac Dalpe, Tim Wallace and Justin Faulk scored three unanswered goals to back Justin Peters’ 20-save effort and even the season series with Milwaukee at two games apiece. Full recap

Checkers 3, Houston 2 (SO)

Justin Faulk tied the game with 13 seconds left in regulation and Justin Krueger scored the shootout-winning goal as the Checkers won their second straight game by a 3-2 score against Houston on Friday. Dan Ellis made 20 saves in regulation and overtime and stopped four of seven in the shootout to pick up the win, while Nicolas Blanchard opened the scoring in the first period before Houston scored two straight goals to take the lead prior to Faulk’s equalizer. Full recap

Checkers 3, Houston 0

Justin Peters made 23 saves to record his second shutout of the season as the Checkers defeated Houston by a 3-0 score in a noon matinee at Time Warner Cable Arena on Saturday. Justin Shugg, Jeremy Welsh and Tim Wallace scored goals for Charlotte, which concluded its 10-game home stand with three straight wins after starting things off with five straight losses. The win extended the Checkers’ South Division lead over Houston to four points. Full recap

Checkers 2, San Antonio 1

Justin Peters made 21 saves to record his third win in a row and second in as many days as the Checkers beat San Antonio 2-1 on Sunday. The win was the Checkers’ fourth in a row, a season high, and marked the second time in team history that the team has won three times in three days. Marc-Andre Gragnani scored the game winner with his first of the season on a five-on-three power play with seven minutes remaining in regulation, backing up Drayson Bowman’s shorthanded goal in the first period. Full recap

Notables

Winning Streak

The Checkers have won each of their last four games, marking their longest winning streak of the season. The team had previously posted two three-game streaks while jumping out to a 12-3-2 start, including wins from Oct. 26-28 and from Nov 8-16. A win in their next game against Peoria on Thurday would tie team's longest in three seasons as an AHL franchise, a five-game streak set from Nov. 20-30, 2011.

The four-game streak ties them with their next opponent, Peoria, for the second-longest active run in the league. The only longer streak is held by Portland (five games).

The Checkers have allowed just four total goals during their streak, which is the lowest of any four-game stretch for the team this season. The same could be said of the 89 total shots allowed during that time, which included consistent efforts of 21, 22 and 23 and 23 shots allowed.

Shutting the Door

After their 3-0 win over Houston on Saturday, the Checkers rank tied for third in the AHL with four shutouts as a team, with only Abbotsford and Springfield (5) having more. Additionally, goalies Dan Ellis and Justin Peters, who have split the workload evenly this season, are one of two sets of teammates that have at least two shutouts apiece, joining Abbotsford's Barry Brust (3) and Danny Taylor (2).

Ellis, who recently extended his tryout contract with Charlotte, ranks fifth in the AHL with a .926 save percentage and is tied for 10th with a 2.39 goals-against average. Meanwhile, Peters allowed a total of two goal over his last three starts to improve to 10-4-0 on the season. As a team, the Checkers rank sixth with a 2.64 goals-against average.

Three-in-Threes

The Checkers three wins over the weekend marked just the second time (20 attempts) that the team has won on three consecutive days in its three-year AHL history. Both three-in-three sweeps have come this season, as the team also won on Oct. 26-28 at Grand Rapids and at Peoria (twice). The Checkers' most recent three-in-three sweep marked the first time that the team had done so in a set that was split between home (two games) and road (one game).

The Checkers have a combined 10-1-1 record in games that are part of a three-in-three set this season, including an undefeated 4-0-0 mark in Game One, a 3-0-1 record in Game Two and a 3-1-0 mark in Game Three. All time, the Checkers are 35-20-5 in three-in-three games, including a 11-7-2 record in Game One, a 14-3-3 record in Game Two and an 10-10-0 record in Game Three.

In the Driver's Seat

The Checkers' back-to-back wins against second-place Houston on Friday and Saturday allowed it to keep the top spot in the South Division. The team has held that honor since winning at Rockford on Oct. 20, a span of 57 days.

Boychuk Dishes it Out

After taking 13 games to record his first five assists of the season, Checkers forward Zach Boychuk now has that many over his last four outings (0g, 5a), tying the longest assist streak of his professional career. The assist streak is also tied for the second-longest active streak in the AHL, trailing Hershey forward Jeff Taffe's six-game streak.

Having made more of an impact with his goal scoring up until this point, Boychuk ranks second on the team and tied for sixth in the AHL with 13 goals, while ranking tied for second with six power-play goals and tied for third with four game-winning goals. His 24 points in 28 games lead the team and have him tied for 13th in overall AHL scoring.

Bowman Fires Away

Drayson Bowman's shorthanded goal on Sunday gave him sole possesion of the team lead and tied him with Oklahoma City defenseman Justin Schultz for fourth in the AHL. The goal was the second career shorthanded goal for Bowman, who ranks tied for second in the league with six on the power play this season. Bowman, who leads the Checkers and is ranked tied for third in the league with 91 shots on goal, is now just three goals away from tying his AHL career high set during the 2009-10 season.

Home Stand Comes to a Close

The Checkers concluded a team-record, 10-game home stand on Friday, having won the last three games to secure a record of 4-6-0. The team had lost the first five games of that home stand, setting team records for longest overall losing streak and longest losing streak at home, both five games. The Checkers, who tied a team record with a nine-game road swing earlier in the season, are now 7-7-0 at home and 10-2-2 on the road.

Recharging

Jeremy Welsh's power play goal against Houston on Saturday ended a four-game, 0-for-13 drought for the Checkers, which was the team's longest of the season. Marc-Andre Gragnani then scored the game-winning goal on the man advantage on Sunday, giving the team power-play goals in back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 25-Dec. 1. Together with their fourth-ranked penalty kill (87.0 percent), the Checkers are the only AHL team with both of their special teams units ranked in the league's top five.

The Checkers, who rank third in the AHL with a 21.4 percetn success rate on the man advantage, have three of the league's top individual performers in forwards Drayson Bowman and Zach Boychuk, who are tied for second in the AHL with six goals apiece, and defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani, who is tied for second with 10 assists. Additoinally, Boychuk is tied for fourth in the league with total power-play points (6g, 7a).

Player Streaks

• Zach Boychuk has assists and points in each of his last four games (Dec. 11-16; 0g, 5a)
• Marc-Andre Gragnani has points in each of his last three games (Dec. 14-16; 1g, 2a)
• Justin Peters has won each of his last three starts (Dec.11-16)
• Bobby Sanguinetti has assists and points in each of his last two games (Dec. 15-16; 0g, 2a)

Injuries

• None

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	21.4%	3rd	22.3% (2nd)
Penalty kill	87.0%	4th	86.5% (4th)
Goals per game	3.21	7th	3.29 (t-5th)
Shots per game	32.4	5th	32.1 (6th)
Goals allowed per game	2.64	6th	2.92 (t-14th)
Shots allowed per game	30.5	14th	31.8 (22nd)
Penalty minutes per game	13.5	4th	14.3 (5th)

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Zach Boychuk (24), Justin Faulk (21), Drayson Bowman (20)
Goals	Drayson Bowman (14), Zach Boychuk (13), Brett Sutter (9)
Assists	Justin Faulk (16), Bobby Sanguinetti (14), Marc-Andre Gragnani (13)
Power play goals	Drayson Bowman, Zach Boychuk (6), Zac Dalpe (3)
Shorthanded goals	Nicolas Blanchard, Drayson Bowman, Chris Terry (1)
Game-winning goals	Zach Boychuk (4), Drayson Bowman, Chris Terry (3)
Shots on goal	Drayson Bowman (91), Zac Dalpe (87)
Penalty minutes	Nicolas Blanchard (61), Brett Bellemore (37), Rasmus Rissanen (32)
Plus/minus	Michal Jordan (+11), Brett Bellemore (+6), three tied at (+5)
Wins	Justin Peters (10), Dan Ellis (7)
Goals-against average	Dan Ellis (2.39), Justin Peters (2.56)
Save percentage	Dan Ellis (.926), Justin Peters (.909)

Checkers in the ECHL

Florida Everblades
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Matt Beca	F	26	7	15	22	12	-7	t-3rd in team scoring
A.J. Jenks	LW	6	1	1	2	0	+1	Reassigned from CLT 12/20
Tommi Kivisto	D	26	3	9	12	27	-5
David Rutherford	C	22	8	12	20	32	-2
Beau Schmitz	D	22	0	2	2	23	-10
Justin Shugg	F	19	11	11	22	20	-2	Recalled to CLT 12/10
Brody Sutter	F	18	2	3	5	9	-6	Did not play last four games

Goaltender	GP	RECORD	GAA	SV%	SO	NOTES
John Muse	16	8-4-4	3.65	.889	0	Won five of last six starts

San Francisco Bulls
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Joe Sova	D	18	0	0	0	14	-11	On loan

Evansville IceMen
Goaltender	GP	RECORD	GAA	SV%	SO	NOTES
Rob Madore	13	4-8-0	3.43	.897	0	7GA on 12/16