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The Checkers finally got the first victory of their marathon home stand, but were unable to build on that momentum to finish the week.

That 5-1 win against Lake Erie was sandwiched between two more losses, which came by scores of 3-2 and 5-2 to Lake Erie and Milwaukee, respectively. As a result, the Checkers are now 1-6-0 to start their 10-game home stand, which concludes this week with a rematch against Milwaukee on Tuesday and a back-to-back set against Houston on Friday and Saturday. Following Saturday’s noon game, part of a doubleheader with the Charlotte Bobcats at Time Warner Cable Arena, the Checkers depart to complete the three-in-three set in San Antonio on Sunday.

Despite its recent slide, Charlotte has retained first place in the South Division. However, there are currently just two points separating it from eighth-place Lake Erie in the Western Conference.

Week in Review

Lake Erie 3, Checkers 2

Goals by Jerome Samson and Drayson Bowman weren’t enough for the Checkers, who dropped a 3-2 decision to Lake Erie on Thursday, setting new team records with their fifth consecutive overall loss and fifth consecutive loss at home. Bowman’s goal to get the team within one with five minutes remaining was his sixth power-play goal of the season, tying him for first in the AHL. Justin Peters stopped 21 of 24 shots in the losing effort. Full recap

Checkers 5, Lake Erie 1

Thanks to a wild second period that featured three total goals and two fights in exactly one minute of game time, the Checkers broke their losing streak and picked up their first win of their home stand with a 5-1 win over Lake Erie on Friday. Drayson Bowman recorded a Gordie Howe Hat Trick with a goal, an assist and a fight, with Brett Sutter, Sean Dolan, Justin Krueger and Jerome Samson also getting in on the scoring. Dan Ellis made 36 saves to earn first-star honors. Full recap

Milwaukee 5, Checkers 2

Milwaukee jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and never looked back on Sunday, dropping the Checkers to 1-6-0 on their home stand with a 5-2 victory on Sunday. Michal Jordan scored a goal near the end of the first period to make it 2-1, but the Admirals pulled away before Brett Sutter added a late consolation tally, his third goal in four games. Dan Ellis, starting consecutive games for the first time all season, finished with 26 saves. Full recap

Notables

Trouble at Home

The Checkers are now 1-6-0 to start their 10-game home stand, the longest in their three AHL seasons. Prior to the current home stand, which ends against Houston on Saturday, the Checkers had points in six consecutive games (5-0-1) and had not lost a game by more than one goal this season, something they've now done five times.

Dating back to last season, the Checkers are 4-11-0 in their last 15 games at Time Warner Cable Arena, having been out-scored 48-17 in their nine losses, including an 8-2 loss to Abbotsford on April 8 and a 7-2 defeat to Oklahoma City on Nov. 25 that marked the team's most lopsided losses in each season.

The Checkers are now 4-7-0 at home this season and have a 9-2-2 record on the road.

Mr. Hockey

Forward Drayson Bowman recored a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (one goal, one assist and one fight) on Friday, marking the first of his four-year professional career. Bowman became the second Checker to accomplish the rare feat, joining Brad Herauf, who had one goal, one assist and one fight in a 10-3 win against Syracuse on Dec. 6, 2010, exactly two years and one day prior to Bowman's effort. Aside from Bowman, the only other active Checker to record a Gordie Howe Hat Trick is Tim Wallace, who did so in Bridgeport's 5-4 overtime loss to Manchester on Nov. 27 of last season.

Anything You Can Do...

Forwards Drayson Bowman and Zach Boychuk have exchanged ownership of the team's goal-scoring lead throughout the season. Bowman, who set a team record with goals in eight consecutive games earlier in the campaign, shot out to an early lead before Boychuk scored in five consecutive home games to surge ahead. Thanks to Bowman's goals in two of the team's last three games, the two are currently tied with 13 goals apiece, ranking tied for third in the AHL. Both players are on pace to shatter their AHL career highs of 22 goals (Boychuk) and 17 goals (Bowman) while breaking Chris Terry's team record of 34 goals from the 2010-11 season.

Sutter Scoring

After scoring three times in his last four games, Checkers captain Brett Sutter ranks third on the team with nine goals. That has him on pace for 28, a mark that would easily top his career high of 13 set last season. All nine of Sutter's goals have come at even strength, as he leads the team and ranks tied for fourth in the AHL in even-strength goals.

Next to Nicolas Blanchard (366 games), Sutter, now in his sixth pro season, is the second-most-experienced AHL player on the Checkers' roster (359 games).

Boiling Point

One of the league's least-penalized teams throughout the season, the Checkers participated in a season-high four fights as they snapped their team-record, five-game losing streak against Lake Erie on Friday. Coming into that game, the Checkers had just 12 major penalties in 22 games, tied for third-fewest in the league. Checkers' all-time penalty minute leader Nicolas Blanchard, who also leads the team with 59 penalty minutes this season and is on pace for a career high of , 186 this season, has led the charge with two fights in his last two games.

Losing Streak

The Checkers' five game losing streak from Nov. 24-Dec. 6 was the longest in the team's three AHL seasons, eclipsing three previous four-game slides. The streak, which began with the first back-to-back losses the Checkers had suffered all season, was the second-longest losing streak posted by any AHL team this season. With all five losses coming at home, the streak also set a new team record for most consecutive losses at home, tying Manchester's five-game slide for the longest home losing streak in the AHL this season.

Power Players

The Checkers have three of the AHL's top individual performers on the power play in forwards Drayson Bowman and Zach Boychuk and defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani. Bowman and Boychuk are tied for the AHL lead with six power-play goals apiece, while Gragnani, who has missed eight games this season due to illness and injury, is tied for second in the league with nine power-play assists. The Checkers rank second in the AHL with a 22.3 percent success rate on the man advantage.

Player Streaks

• Brett Sutter has goals and points in each of his last two games (Dec. 7-9; 2g, 0a).

Injuries

• Rasmus Rissanen (personal) - missed three games.

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	22.3%	2nd	23.9% (1st)
Penalty kill	86.5%	4th	85.4% (t-6th)
Goals per game	3.29	t-5th	3.33 (t-5th)
Shots per game	32.1	6th	32.3 (8th)
Goals allowed per game	2.92	t-14th	2.90 (t-11th)
Shots allowed per game	31.8	22nd	32.0 (23rd)
Penalty minutes per game	14.3	5th	13.3 (2nd)

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Zach Boychuk, Justin Faulk (19), Drayson Bowman (18)
Goals	Drayson Bowman, Zach Boychuk (13), Brett Sutter (9)
Assists	Justin Faulk (16), Bobby Sanguinetti (12), Marc-Andre Gragnani (11)
Power play goals	Drayson Bowman, Zach Boychuk (6), Zac Dalpe (3)
Shorthanded goals	Nicolas Blanchard, Chris Terry (1)
Game-winning goals	Zach Boychuk (4), Drayson Bowman, Chris Terry (3)
Shots on goal	Drayson Bowman (79), Zac Dalpe (74), Zach Boychuk (71)
Penalty minutes	Nicolas Blanchard (59), Rasmus Rissanen (30), Tim Wallace (29)
Plus/minus	Michal Jordan (+9), Brett Bellemore (+6), three tied at (+4)
Wins	Justin Peters (7), Dan Ellis (6)
Goals-against average	Dan Ellis (2.43), Justin Peters (3.05)
Save percentage	Dan Ellis (.927), Justin Peters (.897)

Checkers in the ECHL

Florida Everblades
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Matt Beca	F	22	7	13	20	12	-6
Tommi Kivisto	D	22	3	7	10	23	-7
David Rutherford	C	18	7	10	17	26	-3
Beau Schmitz	D	21	0	2	2	23	-10
Justin Shugg	F	19	11	11	22	20	-2	5g in last 2 games
Brody Sutter	F	18	2	3	5	9	-6

Goaltender	GP	RECORD	GAA	SV%	SO	NOTES
John Muse	12	5-3-4	4.12	.878	0

San Francisco Bulls
Player	POS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	NOTES
Joe Sova	D	15	0	0	0	9	-10	On loan

Evansville IceMen
Goaltender	GP	RECORD	GAA	SV%	SO	NOTES
Rob Madore	12	4-7-0	3.11	.905	0	On loan