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The Checkers entered the AHL All-Star break on a high note, earning a come-from-behind win on Saturday to finish the week with a record of 1-2-0.

Despite an 8-3-1 start to January, a month that is already assured of being one of the best in team history, the Checkers twice exchanged ownership of the South Division lead with the red-hot Texas Stars over the weekend. The Stars, winners of 10 of their last 12, currently have a one-point lead over Charlotte, which held the top spot for 95 consecutive days between Oct. 20 and Jan. 29.

The Checkers, who still hold the No. 3 spot in the AHL and are 11 points ahead of ninth-place Oklahoma City in the Western playoff race, return to action Thursday for back-to-back road games against the Barons. They then return home for two more divisional games against the San Antonio Rampage, including the annual Pink in the Rink event on Feb. 9.

Week in Review

Norfolk 3, Checkers 1

After beating Norfolk 6-1 at Time Warner Cable Arena on Sunday, the Checkers suffered a 3-1 loss in the second leg of a home-and-home series with the Admirals on Wednesday. Andreas Nodl scored his first goal as a Checker and Justin Peters made 28 saves in the loss, which was Charlotte’s first in four meetings with Norfolk this season. The Checkers still hold a four-point lead (3-1-0) over Norfolk (1-3-0) in the race for the GEICO Challenge Cup. Full recap

Abbotsford 4, Checkers 3

The Checkers fell behind 4-1 in the second period and nearly completed a dramatic comeback, falling just short of scoring the tying goal in a dominant third period of an eventual 4-3 loss to Abbotsford on Friday. Chris Terry scored twice and Jared Staal added the third goal for Charlotte, which lost its second game in a row and fourth in as many meetings with Abbotsford. Justin Peters made 17 saves. Full recap

Checkers 5, Abbotsford 4

Facing the AHL’s best defensive team, the Checkers again fell behind early but managed to come back to earn a 5-4 win over Abbotsford on Saturday afternoon. Five different players – Luke Pither, Brett Bellemore, Michal Jordan, Tim Wallace and Bobby Raymond – scored for Charlotte, which ended an overall two-game losing streak and a four-game losing streak against Abbotsford dating back to last season. Pither had three points to tie his career high set less than one week earlier, with goalie John Muse making 14 saves to improve to 2-0-0 on the season. Full recap

Notables

Terry in Twos

With two goals on Friday and two assists on Saturday, forward Chris Terry has two points in each of his last two games (4g, 4a). His first assist on Saturday marked the 200th point of his AHL career, spent entirely with the Carolina Hurricanes organization.

Terry, who now has 15 goals on the season - just one short of his total from all of last season - has 15 points (6g, 9a) in his last 13 games played, and is just one point behind team scoring leader Zach Boychuk. He is the Checkers' all-time leader in games played (196), goals (65), assists (89) and points (154).

Shugg's Quiet Run

After scoring 15 points in his first 44 career AHL games, forward Justin Shugg has scored eight points in his last eight. During that time, he has scored one goal and has recorded just one multi-point game, a two-assist outing in the Checkers' most recent game on Sunday. He has also posted an even or better plus/minus rating in each of his last 12 games, going plus-9 in that span. The 21-year-old forward, who ranked second on the Checkers with a plus-5 rating last season, is now tied for sixth on the team with a plus-8 rating.

Prior to earning a recall to the Checkers on Dec. 10, Shugg had 22 points (11g, 11a) in 19 games with the ECHL's Florida Everblades. That performance earned him a selection to the league's All-Star team, but he was unable to attend the Jan. 23 game while on recall with the Checkers.

Defense Gets Offensive

Saturday's 5-4 win over Abbotsford marked the first time in Checkers history (201 games) that defensemen combined to score three goals in one game. Three different blueliners - Brett Bellemore, Michal Jordan and Bobby Raymond - found the back of the net to set the record. Heading into the game, those three players had combined for just 17 goals in 511 previous AHL regular-season games.

Pither's Dream Debut

In his first AHL games of the season after joining the Checkers via trade on Jan. 13, Luke Pither has scored nine points (4g, 5a) to go along with a plus-8 rating in just six games. During that time, he has set and matched a career high with two separate three-point peformances and has failed to find the score sheet in just one game.

At the time of the trade, Pither, who recorded 94 points in his fifth and final season of junior hockey in 2009-10, had 22 points (9g, 13a) in 24 games for the ECHL's Wheeling Nailers. In 112 career AHL games with Adirondack and Charlotte, Pither now has 39 points (15g, 24a).

All-Stars

Checkers defenseman Michal Jordan, goalie Justin Peters and coach Jeff Daniels are currently in Providence, R.I., for the AHL All-Star Classic.

Jordan, an All-Star for the first time in his three professional seasons, has four goals in his last five games, including his first career multi-goal game against Grand Rapids on Jan. 16. Jordan, who had nine goals in his previous 182 AHL games, now has five points (4g, 1a) in his last six games while improving his plus/minus rating to plus-11, which is tied for second on the team and tied for 12th among AHL defensemen.

Peters, set to make his second All-Star appearance and first as a Checker, was 9-4-1 with a 1.65 goals-against average, .940 save percentage and four shutouts between Dec. 11 and Jan. 23. For the season, he ranks 13th in the AHL with a 2.37 goals-against average and second with five shutouts. Peters earned the Top Goaltender award at Sunday's All-Star skills competition, stopping 17 of 19 shooters over the course of three separate events.

First to 45

Heading into the AHL All-Star break, the Checkers' 45 games played were the most in the league, with only five other teams having played 44. Despite having the league's busiest schedule to this point, Charlotte's .633 percentage of possible points earned ranked fifth in the AHL.

The Checkers will get a relief from the hectic schedule in February, which features just eight games in 28 days - the lightest schedule of any AHL team in that month.

Slow Starts, Fast Finishes

The Checkers allowed the first two goals in each of their last three games, continuing a season-long trend of getting better as games go along. Charlotte has an even goal differential in the first period (32 for, 32 against), a plus-1 goal differential in the second period (47 for, 46 against) and a plus-25 goal differential in the third (57 for, 32 against).

The Checkers' 57 goals scored in the third period are more than any other AHL team has scored in any period this season. Their plus-25 differential is also the best of any team in any period.

Well Rounded

The Checkers currently rank in the AHL's top 10 in goals scored per game (3.13 - 7th), goals allowed per game (2.56 - 7th), power-play percentage (19.0% - t-9th) and penalty-killing percentage (85.5% - 5th). Only two other AHL teams, Springfield and Toronto, rank in the top 10 in all four categories.

Dethroned

Though the Checkers briefly regained the top spot on Saturday afternoon, a win by Texas later that night allowed the Stars to top the South Division for the second time in as many days. The Stars first passed Charlotte on Friday night, knocking the Checkers out of the lead for the first time since Oct. 20, a span of 96 days. They Checkers, who have the third-highest point total in the AHL, currently trail the first-place Stars by just one point.

Player Streaks

• Chris Terry has points in each of his last two games (Jan. 25-26; 2g, 2a)
• Justin Shugg has assists and points in each of his last two games (Jan. 25-26; 0g, 3a)
• Riley Nash has assists and points in each of his last two games (Jan 25-26; 0g, 2a)
• Jerome Samson has points in each of his last two games (Jan. 4-6; 1g, 1a)

Injuries

• A.J. Jenks (upper body, Jan. 17) - missed four games
• Jerome Samson (upper body, Jan. 6) - missed nine games

Transactions

Incoming

• Jan. 26 - (C) Jeremy Welsh reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• Jan. 27 - (D) Beau Schmitz reassigned to Florida (ECHL) from Charlotte
• Jan. 27 - (RW) Matt Beca reassigned to South Carolina (ECHL) from Charlotte

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	19.0%	t-9th	20.6% (7th)
Penalty kill	85.5%	5th	86.7% (4th)
Goals per game	3.13	7th	3.14 (8th)
Shots per game	32.1	5th	32.1 (5th)
Goals allowed per game	2.56	7th	2.48 (5th)
Shots allowed per game	29.5	10th	29.9 (13th)
Penalty minutes per game	12.9	4th	13.4 (6th)

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Zach Boychuk (32), Chris Terry (31), Zac Dalpe (28)
Goals	Zach Boychuk (16), Chris Terry (15), Drayson Bowman (14)
Assists	Justin Faulk, Riley Nash (19), Zach Boychuk, Chris Terry (16)
Power play goals	Zach Boychuk (7), Drayson Bowman (6), Zac Dalpe (4)
Shorthanded goals	Nicolas Blanchard, Drayson Bowman, Zac Dalpe, Michal Jordan, Chris Terry, Tim Wallace (1)
Game-winning goals	Zach Boychuk, Chris Terry (5), Drayson Bowman (3)
Shots on goal	Zac Dalpe (124), Drayson Bowman (117), Jerome Samson (109)
Penalty minutes	Nicolas Blanchard (75), Brett Bellemore (65), Brett Sutter, Tim Wallace (44)
Plus/minus	Zac Dalpe (+14), Michal Jordan, Justin Krueger, Riley Nash (+11)
Wins	Justin Peters (16), Dan Ellis (8), John Muse (2)
Goals-against average	Justin Peters (2.37), Dan Ellis (2.46)
Save percentage	Dan Ellis (.922), Justin Peters (.916)

Checkers in the NHL

Carolina Hurricanes
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Drayson Bowman	LW	4	0	0	0	4	0
Zach Boychuk	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0
Zac Dalpe	C	3	0	2	2	0	-1	2A vs. BUF 1/24
Justin Faulk	D	4	1	1	2	0	1
Bobby Sanguinetti	D	3	0	0	0	0	-3
Jeremy Welsh	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	Reassigned to Charlotte 1/26

Goaltender	GP	RECORD	GAA	SV%	SO	NOTES
Dan Ellis	2	1-0-0	1.20	.963	0	41 saves at BUF 1/25

Checkers in the ECHL

Florida Everblades
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
A.J. Jenks	LW	14	1	2	3	9	+2	Recalled to Charlotte 1/10
Tommi Kivisto	D	35	4	10	14	29	-3
David Rutherford	C	31	14	18	32	42	+2	Recalled to Charlotte 1/11
Beau Schmitz	D	32	0	2	2	25	-16
Justin Shugg	F	19	11	11	22	20	-2	Recalled to Charlotte 12/10
Brody Sutter	F	26	3	5	8	11	-4

Goaltender	GP	RECORD	GAA	SV%	SO	NOTES
John Muse	21	9-8-4	3.61	.886	0	Recalled to Charlotte 1/12
Rob Madore	18	6-9-2	3.29	.900	1

South Carolina Stingrays
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Matt Beca	F	37	10	18	28	18	-6

San Francisco Bulls
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Joe Sova	D	25	0	2	2	22	-14