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The Checkers nearly completed a sweep of their three-game road trip last week, suffering a 2-1 loss on Sunday that resulted in a record of 2-1-0.

Prior to their defeat in Grand Rapids to close the trip, the Checkers had earned a pair of big wins, the first by a 4-3 score in overtime on Thursday and the second by way of a record-setting, 8-2 win in Milwaukee on Saturday. With four out of a possible six points, the team is tied for the second-highest point total in the AHL, just three points behind the division rival Texas Stars.

Charlotte has two legs remaining on its current six-game road swing, which continues with back-to-back games in Abbotsford on Friday and Saturday and a one-game trip to Norfolk on March 1. The team will not play another home game until March 3, which starts a stretch of playing 14 of 17 at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Week in Review

Checkers 4, Chicago 3 (OT)

Chris Terry scored in overtime and Justin Peters made 37 saves as the Checkers kicked off their three-game road trip with a 4-3 win in their first visit to Chicago on Thursday. Terry’s goal, his sixth game-winning goal of the season, completed another strong performance on the power play, where the Checkers converted two of three chances on the evening. Nicolas Blanchard, Justin Soryal and Riley Nash also scored for Charlotte, which won its second consecutive game. Full recap

Checkers 8, Milwaukee 2

Charlotte set a franchise record with five power-play goals on eight chances as the team routed the Admirals by an 8-2 score in Milwaukee on Saturday. Riley Nash (2g, 2a) and Brett Sutter (4a) each tied the franchise record for most points in a single game, with Nash, Chris Terry and Jeremy Welsh becoming the first Checkers teammates to record multiple goals in the same game. Zac Dalpe and Justin Shugg had goals and John Muse made 30 saves for Charlotte, which won by six goals for the league-best third time this season, all on the road. Full recap

Grand Rapids 2, Checkers 1

Jeremy Welsh scored with 2:13 remaining in regulation as the Checkers narrowly avoided being shut out for the second time this season in Grand Rapids on Sunday. The 2-1 loss halted the Checkers’ winning streak at three games and prevented them from sweeping the opening leg of their six-game road swing. Justin Peters stopped 24 of 26 shots, while NHL veteran Jonas Gustavsson, making his first competitive start of the season at any level while on a conditioning stint from the Detroit Red Wings, stopped 26 of 27. Full recap

Notables

Power Surge

The Checkers set a new franchise record with five power-play goals in Milwaukee on Saturday (5-for-8), becoming the only team in the AHL to accomplish that feat this season. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was the last team to do so on Jan. 12, 2012.

The game also marked the team's fourth consecutive road game with at least two power play goals (11-for-21, 52.4 percent), a streak that ended with the team's 0-for-3 showing in Grand Rapids on Sunday. For the season, the Checkers rank tied for fourth in the AHL with a 21.2 percent success rate on the man advantage and first with a 27.5 percent success rate on the road.

Forward Riley Nash (2g, 2a), who has 20 points in his last 18 games, factored in on all four power-play goals on Saturday, making him the second Checker to record four power-play points in a single game this season (Marc-Andre Gragnani - 4a at Grand Rapids on Oct. 26).

Four-Star Generals

Forwards Riley Nash (2g, 2a) and Brett Sutter (4a) each recorded four points on Saturday to tie the franchise record for most points in a single game. That feat has now been accomplished 10 times in the Checkers' three AHL seasons, including four times this season (Marc-Andre Gragnani and Tim Wallace had the others).

The four-point game marked single-game career highs for both players. Additionally, Nash's night allowed him to achieve a new career high for points in a single season (35), while Sutter tied his own career high (29).

Another Big Win

Charlotte's 8-2 win in Milwaukee Saturday marked the team's third win by six or more goals this season - the most in the AHL. All three games were on the road, including a 6-0 win over Peoria on Oct. 28 and a 7-0 win over Oklahoma City on Jan. 11.

Saturday's win was one goal short of tying franchise records for largest victory margin (seven goals) and most goals scored on the road (nine). It marked the most goals the Checkers have scored in a single game since an 8-2 home victory over Norfolk on March 27, 2011.

Three Pairs

Riley Nash, Chris Terry and Jeremy Welsh each recorded two goals on Saturday, marking the first time in team history that three players have recorded multiple goals in the same game. The two-goal outings tied career highs for each player.

Terry's Winners

Forward Chris Terry's overtime goal on Thursday marked this sixth game-winning goal of the season, tied for most in the AHL. The total, which includes two overtime winners, breaks the Checkers' single-season record of five, set by Zach Boychuk during the team's inaugural season in 2010-11. Terry also has one shootout-winning goal, which does not count as a game-winning goal.

In the game following his overtime winner on Saturday, Terry recorded three points (2g, 1a), marking his second three-point game in five outings. The fourth-year forward now has 24 points (10g, 14a) in his last 20 games, pulling him into a tie for 17th in AHL scoring with 40 points (19g, 21a) in 49 outings. He has recorded at least one point in 15 of the team's last 20 games

Gragnani's Helping Hand

Despite missing 21 games this season due to injury and illness, Checkers defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani is tied for third in the AHL with 15 power-play assists. With the two players ahead of him playing in the NHL, he is in a two-way tie for first among active league skaters. Gragnani, the only player in the AHL to record four power-play assists in a single game this season (at Grand Rapids on Oct. 26), has four assists in his last three games, including three on the man advantage. Sixteen of Gragnani's 20 points this season have come on the power play.

Career Contributions

With two months left in the 2012-13 season, several Checkers players have met or are approaching career highs in various statistical categories. Milestones through 51 games:

• Riley Nash has 35 points, three more than his career high set in 2010-11
• Brett Sutter has 29 points, tying his career high set last season
• Chris Terry has 19 goals, three more than all of last season
• Zac Dalpe has 32 points, tying last season's total
• Justin Shugg has a career-high nine assists and is tied for his career high with 13 points
• Brett Bellemore has 11 points, one more than his career high set in each of the last two seasons. He has also tied career highs with two goals and nine assists.
• Forward Jared Staal has three goals, tying last season's career high
• Bobby Raymond has six points, two more than his career high from last season
• Rasmus Rissanen has five assists, two more than last season's career high

Peters Shoulders the Load

Checkers goalie Justin Peters has played in 13 of the Checkers' last 16 games, marking the busiest stretch of any of the team's three goaltenders this season. It is also the busiest period for a Checkers goaltender since John Muse played 12 of 13 games from Jan. 24-Feb. 25 of last season.

For the season, Peters ranks tied for seventh in the AHL with 34 games played and tied for fourth with 19 wins. He is also tied for second with five shutouts and is 13th with a 2.41 goals-against average.

Road Warriors

The Checkers have compiled a record of 17-7-4 on the road, giving them a total of 38 points that ranks second in the league behind Syracuse's 40 (19-6-2). Charlotte is currently in the midst of a six-game road swing that marks the third time they have played six or more consecutive games away from Time Warner Cable Arena this season.

Good Behavior

Thanks to 35 major penalties (tied for eighth-fewest in the AHL), one 10-minute misconduct and one game misconduct, the Checkers are the AHL's least-penalized team with an average of 12.5 penalty minutes per game. They found themselves shorthanded just twice in their last two games.

Player Streaks

• Marc-Andre Gragnani has assists and points in each of his last three games (Feb. 14-17; 0g, 4a)
• Riley Nash has goals, assists and points in each of his last two games (Feb. 14-16; 3g, 3a)
• Jeremy Welsh has goals and points in each of his last two games (Feb. 15-16; 3g, 0a)
• Justin Shugg has points in each of his last two games (Feb. 15-16; 1g, 1a)
• Jerome Samson has points in each of his last two games (Jan. 4-6; 1g, 1a)

Injuries

• David Rutherford (upper body, Feb. 5) - missed five games
• A.J. Jenks (upper body, Jan. 17) - missed 11 games
• Jerome Samson (upper body, Jan. 6) - missed 16 games

Transactions

Incoming

• Feb. 14 - (D) Tommi Kivisto recalled to Charlotte from Florida (ECHL)
• Feb. 14 - (RW) Matt Beca recalled to Charlotte from South Carolina (ECHL)

Outgoing

• Feb. 18 - (C) Riley Nash recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte
• Feb. 14 - (D) Michal Jordan recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	21.2%	t-4th	19.2% (t-7th)
Penalty kill	85.3%	6th	85.7% (5th)
Goals per game	3.13	7th	3.06 (8th)
Shots per game	31.5	6th	31.8 (5th)
Goals allowed per game	2.58	7th	2.59 (8th)
Shots allowed per game	29.5	10th	29.4 (10th)
Penalty minutes per game	12.5	1st	12.8 (3rd)

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Chris Terry (40), Riley Nash (35), Zach Boychuk, Zac Dalpe (32)
Goals	Chris Terry (19), Zach Boychuk, Zac Dalpe (16), Drayson Bowman (14)
Assists	Riley Nash (24), Chris Terry (21), Justin Faulk, Marc-Andre Gragnani (19)
Power play goals	Zach Boychuk (7), Drayson Bowman, Riley Nash, Chris Terry (6)
Shorthanded goals	Nicolas Blanchard, Drayson Bowman, Zac Dalpe, Michal Jordan, Chris Terry, Tim Wallace (1)
Game-winning goals	Chris Terry (6), Zach Boychuk (5), Drayson Bowman (3)
Shots on goal	Zac Dalpe (138), Chris Terry (120), Drayson Bowman (117)
Penalty minutes	Nicolas Blanchard (77), Brett Bellemore (76), Rasmus Rissanen, Brett Sutter (46)
Plus/minus	Zac Dalpe (+14), Justin Krueger (+12), Michal Jordan, Riley Nash (+11)
Wins	Justin Peters (19), Dan Ellis (8), John Muse (3)
Goals-against average	Justin Peters (2.41), Dan Ellis (2.46), John Muse (2.72)
Save percentage	Dan Ellis (.922), Justin Peters (.916), John Muse (.891)

Checkers in the NHL

Carolina Hurricanes
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Drayson Bowman	LW	13	0	1	1	8	-1
Zac Dalpe	C	6	0	2	2	0	-3	Reassigned to Charlotte 2/3
Justin Faulk	D	12	2	4	6	0	6	3A, +3 in last 3 games
Michal Jordan	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	NHL debut vs. TOR 2/14
Bobby Sanguinetti	D	9	0	0	0	0	-6
Tim Wallace	RW	6	1	0	1	15	0	First CAR G at NYI (2/11)
Jeremy Welsh	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	Reassigned to Charlotte 1/26

Goaltender	GP	RECORD	GAA	SV%	SO	NOTES
Dan Ellis	5	3-1-0	1.74	.943	1	2nd NHL SV%, 5th NHL GAA

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	42	4	10	14	33	-1	Recalled to Charlotte 2/14
David Rutherford	C	31	14	18	32	42	+2	Recalled to Charlotte 1/11
Beau Schmitz	D	42	0	6	6	29	-16
Justin Shugg	F	19	11	11	22	20	-2	Recalled to Charlotte 12/10
Brody Sutter	F	36	8	7	15	13	-3

Goaltender	GP	RECORD	GAA	SV%	SO	NOTES
John Muse	21	9-8-4	3.61	.886	0	Recalled to Charlotte 1/12
Rob Madore	24	10-10-3	3.18	.904	1	4-0-0, 2.50, .934 in last 4 starts

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	35	0	4	4	28	-15