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Amid an ever-growing amount of player absences due to injuries and recalls to the NHL, the Checkers kept chugging along with two more wins last week, putting them within one point of Texas for first place in both the South Division and the Western Conference.

The week began with two consecutive overtime wins, first on a Marc-Andre power-play goal in Norfolk Wednesday and continuing with a 2-1 shootout victory over Houston on Saturday. The Checkers then lost three players to injury in the first period of Sunday’s game against Houston, bringing their total number of injured players to nine, en route to a 5-2 loss.

The Checkers are in the midst of a five-game home stand that continues with three more games this week. They first host Norfolk on Wednesday before playing two games against Texas as part of Old-Time Hockey Weekend on Friday and Sunday.

Week in Review

Checkers 3, Norfolk 2 (OT)

Defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani capped a three-point night with an overtime, power-play goal as the Checkers defeated Norfolk by a 3-2 score on Wednesday. The road win gave Charlotte a three-point lead in the race for the GEICO Challenge Cup, awarded to the team with the most points at the conclusion of the season series, with two games remaining. Chris Terry and Jeremy Welsh had the Checkers’ other goals, with John Muse making 31 saves to earn the victory. Full recap

Checkers 2, Houston 1 (SO)

John Muse made 32 saves in regulation and overtime and stopped all four challengers in the shootout as the Checkers topped Houston 2-1 at Time Warner Cable Arena on Saturday. The win, the Checkers’ fifth in a row in games tied after regulation, improved the team to 5-0-1 in the season series with its South Division rival. David Marshall, signed to a professional tryout contract earlier in the week, scored Charlotte’s only goal in regulation and had the shootout winner. Full recap

Houston 5, Checkers 2

Already playing without six injured players and a handful of others on NHL recall to Carolina, the Checkers lost Sean Dolan, Michal Jordan and Luke Pither to injuries in the first period and played the bulk of a 5-2 loss to Houston on Sunday with just 15 skaters. Matt Marquardt and Brody Sutter battled back to tie the game at 2-2 in the second period before Houston pulled away with three unanswered goals in the third. John Muse had 18 saves. Full recap

Notables

New Blood

Of the 17 players healthy enough to complete Sunday's game against Houston, only eight began the season at the AHL level with the Checkers. The other 15 players from the team's opening night roster which defeated the Aeros 3-1 on Oct. 13 were either injured (six - Zac Dalpe, Sean Dolan, Marc-Andre Gragnani, Michal Jordan and Jerome Samson) in the NHL (nine - Drayson Bowman, Zach Boychuk, Dan Ellis, Justin Faulk, Riley Nash, Justin Peters, Bobby Sanguinetti, Chris Terry, Tim Wallace) or in junior hockey (Victor Rask).

Of the Checker's 182 goals scored this season, only 44 of those (24.2 percent) were scored by players who completed Sunday's game. The Checkers finished that outing with only two of their top 15 scorers: Brett Sutter (fourth with 33 points) and Jeremy Welsh (t-9th with 21). Defenseman Brett Bellemore was next with 10 points.

Organizational Ties

With Chris Terry making his NHL debut on Saturday after earning his first-ever recall the day before, he became the 15th player to play for both the Checkers and Hurricanes since the NHL season began in January. Carolina currently has eight players on its roster who started the season with Charlotte, with another, Zach Boychuk, currently playing for Nashville after spending time with the Hurricanes in January.

Terry, who is tied for the AHL lead with seven game-winning goals, had the winner in the Hurricanes' 6-3 victory over New Jersey.

Keeping the Pace

The Checkers have 75 points through 60 games this season, putting them three points ahead of last season's total at the same point in their schedule. They currently have an 11-point lead over ninth-place Oklahoma City in the Western Conference playoff race.

The 2011-12 Checkers would go on to win just six of their last 16 games (6-9-1) to miss the playoffs by a single point.

Overtime Heroes

The Checkers have won each of their last five overtime games, including Saturday's 2-1 shootout win over Houston. That was the only game in the current streak that went to the shootout, with Charlotte winning the previous four during the initial five-minute period.

The Checkers have won a total of five games during the five-minute, four-on-four overtime period this season, which ties them with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for most in the AHL. They are 8-5 in total overtime games, 5-2 in the regular overtime period and 3-3 in shootouts this season.

Well Rounded

Along with Springfield, the Checkers are one of only two AHL teams to rank in the top 10 in goals per game (8th - 3.05), goals allowed per game (t-6th- 2.58), power play (5th - 21.0%) and penalty killing (2nd - 86.7%).

South Streak

Eight of the Checkers' next 12 games, including six at home, will be played against South Division opponents - a run will conclude the team's slate of divisional games this season. The Checkers are 13-8-3 against the South Division this season and currently trail first-place Texas, who they play five times in the next five weeks, by just one point with one more game played.

The South is currently the only division in the AHL that has three teams with more than 68 points (Texas - 76; Charlotte - 76; Houston - 68).

Player Streaks

• Jerome Samson has points in each of his last two games (Jan. 4-6; 1g, 1a)

Injuries

• Marc-Andre Gragnani (March 9) - missed one game
• Justin Shugg (lower body, March 4) - missed three games
• Zac Dalpe (lower body, March 1) - missed five games
• Andreas Nodl (lower body, March 1) - missed five games, out for season
• A.J. Jenks (upper body, Jan. 17) - missed 19 games
• Jerome Samson (upper body, Jan. 6) - missed 24 games

Transactions

Incoming

• March 8 - (C) Jeremy Welsh reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)
• March 8 - (C) Brett Sutter reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)
• March 6 - (RW) David Marshall signed to professional tryout contract
• March 4 - (G) Rob Madore recalled to Charlotte from Florida (ECHL)

Outgoing

• March 8 - (LW) Chris Terry recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte
• March 4 - (G) Justin Peters recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	21.0%	5th	21.5% (4th)
Penalty kill	86.7%	2nd	86.9% (2nd)
Goals per game	3.05	8th	3.09 (7th)
Shots per game	30.3	13th	30.4 (13th)
Goals allowed per game	2.58	t-6th	2.58 (7th)
Shots allowed per game	29.9	13th	29.9 (13th)
Penalty minutes per game	12.7	3rd	12.8 (3rd)

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Chris Terry (46), Zac Dalpe (38), Riley Nash (35)
Goals	Chris Terry (22), Zac Dalpe (19), Zach Boychuk (16)
Assists	Marc-Andre Gragnani, Riley Nash, Chris Terry (24)
Power play goals	Chris Terry (8), Zach Boychuk (7), Drayson Bowman, Riley Nash (6)
Shorthanded goals	Zac Dalpe (3), five tied with (1)
Game-winning goals	Chris Terry (7), Zach Boychuk (5), Drayson Bowman, Zac Dalpe (3)
Shots on goal	Zac Dalpe (149), Chris Terry (139), Drayson Bowman (117)
Penalty minutes	Nicolas Blanchard (94), Brett Bellemore (85), Rasmus Rissanen (68)
Plus/minus	Zac Dalpe (+15), Brett Bellemore (+12), Riley Nash (+11)
Wins	Justin Peters (22), Dan Ellis (8), John Muse (5)
Goals-against average	Justin Peters (2.29), Dan Ellis (2.46), John Muse (3.20)
Save percentage	Dan Ellis (.922), Justin Peters (.921), John Muse (.886)

Checkers in the NHL

Carolina Hurricanes
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Drayson Bowman	LW	23	2	1	3	8	-5	G vs. MTL 3/7
Zac Dalpe	C	7	0	2	2	0	-4	Reassigned to Charlotte 3/1
Justin Faulk	D	23	3	7	10	9	4	Leads team D in PTS
Marc-Andre Gragnani	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	Reassigned to Charlotte 2/27
Michal Jordan	D	5	0	0	0	2	-2	Reassigned to Charlotte 2/28
Riley Nash	C	10	1	3	4	0	1
Bobby Sanguinetti	D	19	1	3	4	4	-3	2A, +4 in last three GP
Brett Sutter	C	3	0	0	0	4	-1	Reassigned to Charlotte 3/15
Chris Terry	LW	1	1	0	1	0	1	G in NHL debut 3/9
Tim Wallace	RW	17	1	0	1	17	-5
Jeremy Welsh	C	5	0	1	1	0	1	First NHL point vs. MTL 3/7

Goaltender	GP	RECORD	GAA	SV%	SO	NOTES
Dan Ellis	7	3-2-1	2.53	.923	1
Justin Peters	0	-	-	-	-	Recalled 3/4

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	47	4	11	15	57	+2	1A, 24 PIM at CIN (3/6)
David Rutherford	C	31	14	18	32	42	+2	Recalled to Charlotte 1/11
Beau Schmitz	D	50	0	8	8	31	-14	Recalled to Charlotte 3/10
Justin Shugg	F	19	11	11	22	20	-2	Recalled to Charlotte 12/10
Brody Sutter	F	37	8	8	16	13	-3	Recalled to Charlotte 2/20

Goaltender	GP	RECORD	GAA	SV%	SO	NOTES
John Muse	21	9-8-4	3.61	.886	0	Recalled to Charlotte 1/12
Rob Madore	27	11-12-3	3.20	.900	1	Recalled to Charlotte 3/4

South Carolina Stingrays
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Matt Beca	F	42	12	21	33	20	-6	Recalled to Charlotte 2/14

Reading Royals
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Joe Sova	D	44	0	5	5	34	-13