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The Checkers enter their longest break of the entire season having split back-to-back games in Oklahoma City last week.

The two-game set against Charlotte’s South Division rival included a last-minute, 2-1 victory on Thursday but ended with a lopsided loss, a 7-3 triumph for the Barons the next day. As a result, the Checkers, who briefly reclaimed first place after winning on Thursday, enter this week trailing Texas by one point for the top spots in the division and in the Western Conference.

Following the current seven-day break between games – which is longer than both the late-December holiday hiatus and the recent All-Star break – the Checkers, who lead the league with 47 games played, host two meetings with the San Antonio Rampage this weekend, including the annual Pink in the Rink event on Saturday. The games are the only Checkers home games during the month of February.

Week in Review

Checkers 2, OKC 1

Defenseman Bobby Raymond scored the game-winning, power-play goal with 21 seconds remaining in regulation to secure a 2-1 win for the Checkers in Oklahoma City on Thursday. In doing so, Raymond, who had yet to score a regular-season goal in 50 previous AHL games, became the first Checkers player to score game-winning goals in back-to-back games. Justin Peters made 23 saves and Jeremy Welsh also scored for Charlotte, which improved to 6-1-0 in seven all-time trips to Oklahoma City. Full recap

OKC 7, Checkers 3

Despite a season-high three points from Chris Terry (1g, 2a), the Checkers concluded their two-game trip to Oklahoma City with a 7-3 loss on Friday. Starter Justin Peters allowed four goals and John Muse allowed three more for Charlotte, which conceded seven goals for the second time this season and first since a Nov. 25 loss to the Barons at home. Brett Sutter and Luke Pither scored in the first period to give Charlotte a 2-1 lead before Oklahoma City tacked on five unanswered goals prior to the second intermission. Full recap

Notables

Terry's Trio

Checkers forward Chris Terry recorded three points (1g, 2a) on Friday, marking his largest single-game output of the season and the sixth time he has scored three or more points in a single game during his four seasons at the AHL level. The outing, which included a career-high seven shots on goal, allowed Terry, the Checkers' all-time leading scorer with 158 points in 198 games, to surpass Zach Boychuk for the team's top spot this season with 35 points (16g, 19a) in 44 games

Since Dec. 30, Terry has recorded 19 points (7g, 12a) in his last 15 games, including five separate multi-point outings. He has recorded at least one point in 16 of those 19 games, including a six-game point streak to start the stretch (3g, 5a) and an active four-game streak (3g, 5a).

Raymond's Winners

In scoring a third-period goal to make the score 5-4 against Abbotsford on Jan. 26 and scoring to put the Checkers up 2-1 with 21 seconds remaining at Oklahoma City on Jan. 31, defenseman Bobby Raymond became the first Checker to record game-winning goals in consecutive games since the team joined the AHL for the 2010-11 season. Prior to scoring those goals, Raymond, who signed an AHL contract with the team on Jan. 22, had not scored a goal in 50 previous regular-season games at the AHL level.

Upon initially joining the team on a professional tryout contract on Dec. 31, Raymond, 27, was the top-scoring defenseman for the ECHL's Florida Everblades with 19 points (8g, 11a) in 30 games.

Tough Competition

Two of the AHL's top three teams, the Checkers and the Texas Stars, call the South Division home. The Stars currently lead the Checkers by one point, causing Charlotte to have the unusual distiction of ranking third in the AHL but fourth in the Western Conference due to the league's playoff format that rewards division leaders.

Long Break

The Checkers, who last played on Friday and do not play their next game until Saturday, are in the midst of their longest break of the entire season. The seven days off are one day longer than two six-day breaks the team enjoyed in November and December and another coming up from March 31-April 5.

Charlotte currently leads the AHL with 47 games played. Its eight total games in February are tied for the fewest of any team this month.

Happy New Year

The Checkers' 9-3-1 record in January marked the third-best month in their three seasons at the AHL level. With 19 points, the month came one point short of February 2011 (8-1-4: 20 points) and three points short of November 2010 (10-2-2: 22 points).

Well Rounded

The Checkers currently rank in the AHL's top 10 in goals scored per game (3.11 - t-6th), goals allowed per game (2.62 - 8th), power-play percentage (20.0 - 7th) and penalty-killing percentage (85.2% - 5th). Only two other AHL teams, Springfield and Toronto, rank in the top 10 in all four categories.

Player Streaks

• Zac Dalpe has points in each of his last five games (Jan. 4-13; 5g, 4a)
• Chris Terry has points in each of his last four games (Jan. 25-Feb. 1; 3g, 5a)
• 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 six games
• Jerome Samson (upper body, Jan. 6) - missed 11 games

Transactions

Incoming

• Feb. 3 - (F) Zac Dalpe reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• Feb. 3 - (RW) Tim Wallace recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte
• Jan. 30 - (RW) Andreas Nodl recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	20.0%	7th	19.0% (t-9th)
Penalty kill	85.2%	t-5th	85.5% (5th)
Goals per game	3.11	t-6th	3.13 (7th)
Shots per game	32.0	5th	32.1 (5th)
Goals allowed per game	2.62	8th	2.56 (7th)
Shots allowed per game	29.5	11th	29.5 (10th)
Penalty minutes per game	13.0	4th	12.9 (4th)

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Chris Terry (35), Zach Boychuk (32), Zac Dalpe, Riley Nash (28)
Goals	Zach Boychuk, Chris Terry (16), Drayson Bowman (14), Zac Dalpe (13)
Assists	Riley Nash (20), Justin Faulk, Chris Terry (19), Zach Boychuk (16)
Power play goals	Zach Boychuk (7), Drayson Bowman (6), Zac Dalpe, Jeremy Welsh (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 (72), Rasmus Rissanen (46)
Plus/minus	Zac Dalpe (+14), Justin Krueger (+12), Michal Jordan, Riley Nash (+10)
Wins	Justin Peters (17), Dan Ellis (8), John Muse (2)
Goals-against average	Justin Peters (2.43), Dan Ellis (2.46), John Muse (2.99)
Save percentage	Dan Ellis (.922), Justin Peters (.915), John Muse (.867)

Checkers in the NHL

Carolina Hurricanes
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Drayson Bowman	LW	7	0	0	0	6	0
Zac Dalpe	C	6	0	2	2	0	-3	Reassigned to Charlotte 2/3
Justin Faulk	D	6	1	1	2	0	0
Bobby Sanguinetti	D	5	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	4	2-1-0	1.99	.939	1	33 save SO vs. OTT 2/1

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	38	4	10	14	31	-3
David Rutherford	C	31	14	18	32	42	+2	Recalled to Charlotte 1/11
Beau Schmitz	D	35	0	3	3	27	-19
Justin Shugg	F	19	11	11	22	20	-2	Recalled to Charlotte 12/10
Brody Sutter	F	29	5	5	10	11	-4	G in back-to-back games 1/30 and 2/1

Goaltender	GP	RECORD	GAA	SV%	SO	NOTES
John Muse	21	9-8-4	3.61	.886	0	Recalled to Charlotte 1/12
Rob Madore	20	6-10-3	3.38	.897	1

South Carolina Stingrays
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Matt Beca	F	39	10	18	28	18	-7

Reading Royals
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Joe Sova	D	28	0	3	3	22	-14	Reassigned from San Francisco 1/30