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The Checkers concluded a six-game road swing and began a home-heavy month of March last week, going 1-2-0 in three games against Norfolk and Oklahoma City.

Aside from what happened on the ice, the week was perhaps most memorable for what happened off of it. Due to injuries at the NHL and AHL levels, the Checkers were involved in a total of 13 transactions between Feb. 25 and March 4, a pace that rivals the hectic adjustment period caused by the NHL’s return from its work stoppage in January. As part of the end result, forwards Zac Dalpe and Andreas Nodl and goalie Justin Peters will miss significant time, while Zach Boychuk will remain in the NHL after very nearly returning to Charlotte.

A busy stretch continues with the Checkers’ fourth game in six days on Wednesday in Norfolk. After that, they begin a five-game home stand with games against Houston on Saturday and Sunday.

Week in Review

Norfolk 6, Checkers 2

After forwards Chris Terry and Zac Dalpe scored in the game’s first 10 minutes, the Checkers allowed six unanswered goals as they concluded a six-game game road swing with a 6-2 loss in Norfolk on Friday. The loss was the Checkers’ second in as many trips to Norfolk, though they remained in the lead for the GEICO Challenge Cup with a 3-2-0 record in the eight-game season series. John Muse made 32 saves for Charlotte, which lost Dalpe and Andreas Nodl with lower-body injuries. Full recap

Checkers 3, OKC 2

A trio of players who started the season in the ECHL – Matt Beca, David Rutherford and Justin Shugg – scored goals and Justin Peters made 33 saves as the Checkers held on for a 3-2 win over the Oklahoma City Barons on Sunday. Beca’s goal was his second of the season and third of his AHL career, while Rutherford’s to give Charlotte a 2-1 lead in the third period was his first-ever goal in the league. Full recap

OKC 4, Checkers 2

Despite taking a 2-1 lead on goals by defensemen Marc-Andre Gragnani and Bobby Raymond in the first period, the Checkers surrendered the next three goals in a 4-2 loss to Oklahoma City in Charlotte on Monday. In his first game as the team’s No. 1 goalie since Justin Peters joined the Carolina Hurricanes earlier in the day, John Muse made 21 saves for the Checkers, who lost forward Justin Shugg due to a lower-body injury. Full recap

Notables

New Blood

Of the Checker's 176 goals scored this season, only 71 of those (40.3 percent) were scored by players who were in the Checkers' lineup on Monday. Scoring leader Chris Terry has accounted for 22 of those, with Jeremy Welsh next with 10. No other player has scored more than six (Michal Jordan and Luke Pither). The Checkers are currently missing seven of their top 10 scorers to due injury or recall to the NHL.

First for Everything

A handful of players recorded either their first goal or point with the Checkers during the team's last few games. David Rutherford's goal to give the Checkers a 2-1, third-period lead over Oklahoma City on Sunday was the first of his AHL career. Matt Marquardt (first point as a Checker) and Brody Sutter (first AHL point of the season and first AHL assist) also hit milestones while assisting on former Florida Everblades teammate Bobby Raymond's goal to give the Checkers a 2-1, first-period lead on Monday.

Shots Hard to Come By

The Checkers took just 18 shots on goal against Oklahoma City on Monday, coming just one shot short of tying the franchise record for fewest in a single game that was set twice in January. Meanwhile, their one second-period shot was a season low.

Special Special Teams

The Checkers went 1-for-6 on the power play against Oklahoma City on Monday, bringing their total to 13-for-40 over their last eight games (32.5 percent). Additionally, they killed all four Barons power plays, improving their penalty killing total to 26-for-26 over their last seven outings - their longest streak of the season. They have not allowed a power-play goals since Feb. 14 at Chicago.

For the season, the Checkers have the AHL's fourth-best power play at 21.5 percent and the second-best penalty kill at 86.9 percent. They are the only team in the league to have both special teams units rank in the top six.

Gragnani's Helping Hand

Despite missing 21 games this season due to injury and illness, Checkers defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani ranks tied for second in the AHL and tied for first among active players with 17 power-play assists (Justin Schultz, in the NHL since early January, has 18). 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 eight points (1g, 7a) in his last eight games, including five on the man advantage. Nineteen of Gragnani's 24 points this season (2g, 22a) have come on the power play.

Player Streaks

• Marc-Andre Gragnani has points in each of his last three games (March 1-4; 1g, 2a)
• David Rutherford has points in each of his last two games (March 3-4; 1g, 1a)
• Bobby Raymond has points in each of his last two games (March 3-4; 1g, 1a)
• Luke Pither has assists and points in each of his last two games (March 3-4; 0g, 2a)
• Jerome Samson has points in each of his last two games (Jan. 4-6; 1g, 1a)

Injuries

• Zac Dalpe (lower body, March 1) - missed two games
• Andreas Nodl (lower body, March 1) - missed two games, out for season
• A.J. Jenks (upper body, Jan. 17) - missed 16 games
• Jerome Samson (upper body, Jan. 6) - missed 21 games

Transactions

Incoming

• March 4 - (G) Rob Madore recalled to Charlotte from Florida (ECHL)
• March 1 - (C) Zac Dalpe reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)
• Feb. 28 – (C) Jeremy Welsh reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)
• Feb. 28 – (D) Michal Jordan reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)
• Feb. 27 – (D) Marc-Andre Gragnani reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)
• Feb. 25 – (RW) Andreas Nodl reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• March 4 - (G) Justin Peters recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte
• March 3 - (C) Brett Sutter recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte
• March 2 - (D) Tommi Kivisto reassigned to Florida (ECHL) from Charlotte

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	21.5%	4th	21.4% (t-3rd)
Penalty kill	86.9%	2nd	86.3% (3rd)
Goals per game	3.09	7th	3.13 (6th)
Shots per game	30.4	13th	31.0 (8th)
Goals allowed per game	2.58	7th	2.50 (6th)
Shots allowed per game	29.9	13th	29.7 (t-11th)
Penalty minutes per game	12.8	3rd	12.8 (3rd)

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Chris Terry (44), Zac Dalpe (38), Riley Nash (35)
Goals	Chris Terry (21), Zac Dalpe (19), Zach Boychuk (16)
Assists	Riley Nash (24), Chris Terry (23), Marc-Andre Gragnani (22)
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 (136), Drayson Bowman (117)
Penalty minutes	Nicolas Blanchard (94), Brett Bellemore (80), Rasmus Rissanen (62)
Plus/minus	Zac Dalpe (+15), Brett Bellemore, Riley Nash (+11)
Wins	Justin Peters (22), Dan Ellis (8), John Muse (3)
Goals-against average	Justin Peters (2.29), Dan Ellis (2.46), John Muse (3.54)
Save percentage	Dan Ellis (.922), Justin Peters (.921), John Muse (.871)

Checkers in the NHL

Carolina Hurricanes
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Drayson Bowman	LW	20	1	1	2	8	-5
Zac Dalpe	C	7	0	2	2	0	-4	Reassigned to Charlotte 3/1
Justin Faulk	D	20	3	6	9	7	6	1g, 1a, fight in last two games
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	8	1	3	4	0	1	1g, 2a vs. FLA 3/2
Bobby Sanguinetti	D	16	1	1	2	4	-7
Brett Sutter	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	Recalled 3/3
Tim Wallace	RW	14	1	0	1	17	-2
Jeremy Welsh	C	4	0	0	0	0	0	Reassigned to Charlotte 2/28

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	43	4	10	14	33	0	Reassigned to Florida 3/2
David Rutherford	C	31	14	18	32	42	+2	Recalled to Charlotte 1/11
Beau Schmitz	D	48	0	8	8	31	-13	1a, +2 in last game
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	41	0	5	5	34	-11	1a, +2 in last game