Follow @PaulBranecky	Tweet
Follow @CheckersHockey

A successful first home stand left the Checkers in the same position they were in at this time last week - first place.

Wins in three of four games against Chicago and Peoria at Time Warner Cable Arena gave the Checkers a record of 9-3-1, good for the most points (19) in the AHL. In addition to their one-point lead in the league and conference standings, the Checkers enjoy a six-point lead in the South Division that marks the largest cushion in any AHL division.

Even after a rare weekend off, the Checkers are tied for most games played in the league with 13, with no immediate rest in sight. On Thursday, the team departs for a four-game road swing, including another set of three games in three nights, before they begin a season-long, 10-game home stretch just after Thanksgiving.

Week in Review

Chicago 2, Checkers 1

The Wolves earned a split in their two-game series with the Checkers with a 2-1 win at Time Warner Cable Arena on Tuesday. Chris Terry, in his first game back from suspension, opened the scoring for Charlotte in the first period, but two goals by Steve Pinizzotto in the second were enough to hand the Checkers their third regulation loss in 11 games. Dan Ellis made 41 saves as the Checkers were out-shot 43-25. Full Recap

Checkers 5, Peoria 4 (OT)

Zach Boychuk’s second goal of the game in overtime gave the Checkers a 5-4 victory in a back-and-forth game in Charlotte on Thursday. Trailing 3-2 heading into the third period on goals by Boychuk and Zac Dalpe, the Checkers then took a 4-3 lead through Jeremy Welsh and Drayson Bowman before giving up the tying goal with five minutes remaining, setting up Boychuk’s breakaway winner just 1:15 into the extra session. Justin Peters made 34 saves as the Checkers extended their winning streak against Peoria to six games. Full Recap

Checkers 4, Peoria 2

Chris Terry led the way with two goals as the Checkers closed their four-game home stand on a high note and topped Peoria for the seventh time in as many meetings. Terry’s back-to-back, second-period goals erased a 2-1 deficit built when Peoria scored on either side of Zach Boychuk’s opener. Defenseman Justin Faulk then added an insurance tally in the third period, helping hand Dan Ellis a win after his 22-save effort. Full Recap

Notables

Scoring Touch

In Drayson Bowman (t-1st, 10 goals), Zach Boychuk (3rd, nine goals) and Chris Terry (t-6th, seven goals), the Checkers boast three of the AHL’s top 12 goal scorers. Together, those three have accounted for just over half (52 percent) of the team’s league-leading 50 goals.

In terms of goals per game, the Checkers are first in the AHL with an average of 3.85. They also own the two best period-by-period marks in the league, as no other team has scored 21 goals in any single period, something the Checkers have done twice (21 in each of the second and third periods).

Together with their 5th-ranked defense (an average of 2.46 goals allowed per game), the Checkers own the league’s second-best goal differential at +18, trailing only Springfield’s +23.

Helping Hand

Defenseman Justin Faulk, who made the NHL’s All-Rookie Team at 19 years of age last season, currently ranks tied for second in the AHL with 11 assists. Together with his three goals, that has him tied with four other players, including teammate Zach Boychuk, for third in overall league scoring with 14 points. Faulk, who has missed two games this season due to injury and rest, has played fewer games than any player tied or ahead of him in the AHL scoring chart.

Sharing the Wealth

The Checkers are one of two AHL teams (Lake Erie) that has six different players that have hit double digits in points (Zach Boychuk, Justin Faulk, Drayson Bowman, Chris Terry, Brett Sutter, Zac Dalpe). By comparison, there are nine teams in the league that have yet to have one player score 10 points. With the exception of Justin Soryal, who has played just one game this season, every player who has suited up for the Checkers in 2012-13, including goalies Dan Ellis and Justin Peters, has recorded at least one point.

Boychuk in the Clutch

Zach Boychuk's overtime goal on Thursday was his fourth game-winning goal of the season, giving him sole possession of the AHL lead and putting him one shy of his own single-season team record set during the 2010-11 season. Boychuk, who tied for the team lead with three game-winning goals last season, is the Checkers' all-time leader in the category with a total of 12 in 137 games played.

Now second on the team and third in the league with nine goals, Boychuk, who is also tied for third in overall league scoring, has found the back of the net in eight of the team's 13 games with only three pointless outings.

Streaking

In Chris Terry (6g, 2a) and Brett Sutter (5g, 3a), the Checkers have two players with active six-game point streaks. Those streaks are tied for the second-longest active streaks in the league, trailing only Houston’s Mikael Granlund’s seven-game run.

Terry is no stranger to long point streaks, having posted three streaks of five or more games last season, including two eight-game runs that marked career highs. Sutter’s current streak is his longest in six regular seasons as a pro, eclipsing the four-game run in January of 2011, and ties the six-game streak he posted during the 2010 Calder Cup Playoffs as a member of the Abbotsford Heat.

Though their overall point streaks came to an end last week, Drayson Bowman and Justin Faulk will have the opportunity to extend their road-only streaks this weekend. Bowman has goals in seven consecutive road games (8g, 1a), which is the longest active streak in the league, while his seven-game point streak ties the longest current run in the AHL. Meanwhile, Faulk’s four-game road assist streak is tied for the longest in the AHL (2g, 6a).

Power Surge

Charlotte leads the AHL with a 29.5 percent success rate on the man advantage (18 goals on 61 chances). Though the team has had several contributors (11 different Checkers have scored at least one power-play goal, at least three more than any other AHL team), it also features some of the league's top individual performers on the man advantage. Drayson Bowman and Zach Boychuk are tied for second in goals (4), Marc-Andre Gragnani is tied for the lead in assists (7) and Boychuk is tied for the league lead in total points (9).

Three-in-Threes

The Checkers will play the third of seven sets of three games in three nights this weekend when they visit San Antonio and Texas. On their last three-in-three, the Checkers won all three games for the first time in franchise history (18 attempts) to improve to 5-1-0 in games that are part of a three-in-three set this season. All time, the Checkers are 30-20-4 in those games, including a 9-7-2 record in Game One, a 13-3-2 record in Game Two and an 8-10-0 record in Game Three.

Streaks

• Drayson Bowman has goals and points in each of his last seven road games (Oct. 19-31; 8g, 1a)
• Chris Terry has points in each of his last six games (Oct. 21-Nov. 9; 6g, 2a)
• Brett Sutter has points in each of his last six games (Oct. 28-Nov. 9; 5g, 3a)
• Justin Faulk has assists and points in each of his last four road games (Oct. 21-31; 2g, 6a)
• Justin Peters has wins in each of his last three games (Oct. 28-Nov. 7)
• Riley Nash has points in each of his last three games (Nov. 4-9; 1g, 3a)
• Zach Boychuk has goals and points in each of his last two games (Nov. 8-9; 3g, 1a)
• Jeremy Welsh has points in each of his last two games (Nov. 8-9; 1g, 1a)
• Zac Dalpe has assists and points in each of his last two games (Nov. 8-9; 1g, 2a)

Milestones

• Jerome Samson is one point away from 100 as a Checker

Injuries

• Marc-Andre Gragnani (lower-body, 11/8) – missed one game

Coming Up

• Friday, Nov. 16 at San Antonio (8:30 p.m.)
• Saturday, Nov. 17 at Texas (8 p.m.)
• Sunday, Nov. 18 at San Antonio (5:30 p.m.)

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	29.5%	1st	32.7% (1st)
Penalty kill	88.1%	t-8th	89.4% (5th)
Goals per game	3.85	1st	4.00 (2nd)
Shots per game	33.5	2nd	32.6 (4th)
Goals allowed per game	2.46	5th	2.40 (4th)
Shots allowed per game	31.3	21st	30.2 (17th)
Penalty minutes per game	14.5	4th (fewest)	14.7 (4th)

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Zach Boychuk, Justin Faulk (14), Drayson Bowman (11)
Goals	Drayson Bowman (10), Zach Boychuk (9), Chris Terry (7)
Assists	Justin Faulk (11), Marc-Andre Gragnani (9), Zac Dalpe, Bobby Sanguinetti (7)
Power play goals	Drayson Bowman, Zach Boychuk (4), Zac Dalpe (2)
Shorthanded goals	Chris Terry (1)
Game-winning goals	Zach Boychuk (4), Chris Terry (3), Drayson Bowman (2)
Shots on goal	Jerome Samson (46), Zach Boychuk (44), Drayson Bowman (40)
Penalty minutes	Nicolas Blanchard (28), Tim Wallace (23), Rasmus Rissanen (22)
Plus/minus	Jerome Samson (+8), Brett Bellemore, Victor Rask (+7)
Wins	Justin Peters (5), Dan Ellis (4)
Goals-against average	Dan Ellis (1.94), Justin Peters (2.84)
Save percentage	Dan Ellis (.940), Justin Peters (.905)

Checkers in the ECHL

Florida Everblades
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Matt Beca	F	12	3	6	9	8	-2	t-6th on team scoring
Tommi Kivisto	D	12	2	5	7	8	-4	2nd team D scoring
David Rutherford	C	9	4	6	10	20	-1	5th on team scoring
Beau Schmitz	D	12	0	1	1	15	-5
Justin Shugg	F	12	5	8	13	12	-3	2nd on team scoring
Brody Sutter	F	8	1	2	3	2	-3

Goaltender	GP	RECORD	GAA	SV%	SO	NOTES
John Muse	6	2-3-0	4.18	.881	0

San Francisco Bulls
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Joe Sova	D	8	0	0	0	2	-6	On loan

Evansville IceMen
Goaltender	GP	RECORD	GAA	SV%	SO	NOTES
Rob Madore	8	2-5-0	2.63	.914	0	On loan