CHECKERS vs. Norfolk Admirals - 5:00 p.m. at Time Warner Cable Arena

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Checkers players stats / Checkers game-by-game
Admirals players stats / Admirals game-by-game

The Checkers (40-25-2-7) return home from a two-game road trip for a pivotal East Division battle against the Norfolk Admirals. Although Charlotte picked up three of a possible four points over the last two days, Norfolk has won two of its own last three games and remains just one point back of third place.

While the Checkers are locked in a tight battle with the Admirals and lead Binghamton by four points for fifth place in the division, they now have an 11-point cushion on a playoff spot. Charlotte can clinch a playoff berth with a win today and a Worcester loss or an overtime/shootout loss and a Worcester regulation loss.

Up Front

After sputtering for most of March, Charlotte's offense has come to life and produced five goals in two of the last three games. During their five-goal outburst against the Pirates last night, the Checkers received multi-point games from four players, including Chris Terry, who became the first player on the team to reach the 30-goal plateau as result of scoring twice.

Meanwhile, the Admirals have scored 234 goals in 71 games, for 3.3 goals per game, which is second best in the AHL. While Norfolk has 10 double-digit goal scorers and six players with 40-plus points, it has scored just four times in the last three games and was shut out Friday night in Manchester.

Goaltending

With Mike Murphy sidelined due to injury, Justin Pogge has been pressed into full-time duty and has carried the Checkers to five of a possible six points over the last three games. Against today's opponent, Pogge is 5-2-1, with a strong .931 save percentage.

Although Cedrick Desjardins has returned from an injury he suffered at Time Warner Cable Arena in Jan., Dustin Tokarski has taken over as Norfolk's top goalie over the last couple months. While Tokarski is 21-6-4, and has a 2.36 goals-against average and .912 save percentage overall, he is just 2-3-1 with a 2.89 goals-against average against Charlotte.

Special Teams

Last night, the Checkers found the net on both the power play and while shorthanded. Charlotte went 2-of-4 on the man advantage and Chris Terry's first goal of the night helped the team improve to 8-0-0-1 when scoring a shorthanded goal.

Norfolk hasn't scored a power-play goal in three games and has fallen to 16th (19%) on the man advantage. The Admirals are a strong seventh in the league (84.7%) in killing penalties, but have allowed PP markers in each of the last three games.

Norfolk Admirals
NHL Affiliate: Portland Pirates
Head Coach: Jon Cooper (first year with Norfolk)
Notable Alumni: Rene Bourque, Dustin Byfuglien, Dave Bolland, Zenon Konopka