Two hockey teams, each playing its third game in three nights, tangled at Time Warner Cable Arena Sunday night. Norfolk won its third in a row while pushing Charlotte's losing streak to two in a 3-1 Admirals victory.

Evan Oberg, Cory Conacher, and Pierre-Cedric Labrie scored for Norfolk, and the Checkers got a lone power-play goal from Bobby Sanguinetti.

Charlotte goalie John Muse saw his personal three-game winning streak end, yielding two goals and making 25 saves. Admirals goalie Jaroslav Janus made 33 saves and notched his ninth win of the season.

"I think we came out in the first and played pretty well - we just couldn't find that first goal," said Charlotte coach Jeff Daniels. "You give up two goals in the first and second at the end of the period, and we couldn't get that first goal to get us going."

The Checkers (29-18-2-2) dominated the first period, outshooting the Admirals 17-8, but found themselves down 1-0 at the intermission.

With Muse down and bodies sprawled everywhere in a goalmouth scramble, Oberg fired a shot into an open net with less than a minute left in the period.

Once again the Admirals (30-18-1-2) scored a late-period goal to take a 2-0 lead after two periods. Conacher knocked home his own rebound by Muse with just under two minutes left in the second.

When it appeared Charlotte would get shut out for the fourth time this season, the Checkers got a late power-play opportunity and capitalized. Sanguinetti's blast from the point ruined Janus' shutout bid and Charlotte sliced the Admirals' lead to 2-1 with 1 minute, 43 seconds left in regulation.

"I think the effort was there for us tonight," said Sanguinetti. "We were tired and we had a lot of good chances, but we couldn't get the goalie figured out."

The Checkers will head back to the Midwest for another three games in three days, beginning Friday at Peoria.

NORFOLK 3, CHARLOTTE 1

1st Period-1, Norfolk, Oberg 4 (Ashton, Picard), 19:01. Penalties-Labrie Nor (holding), 1:31; Cote Nor (hooking), 6:15; Gudas Nor (tripping), 12:23; Bowman Cha (goaltender interference), 12:42.

2nd Period-2, Norfolk, Conacher 28 (Smith), 18:07. Penalties-Sutter Cha (hooking), 2:00; Sutter Cha (tripping), 5:09; Labrie Nor (roughing), 10:54; Smith Nor (high-sticking), 10:54; Jordan Cha (roughing), 10:54. 3rd Period-3, Charlotte, Sanguinetti 6 (Boychuk, Muse), 18:17 (PP). 4, Norfolk, Labrie 10 (Cote), 18:57 (EN). Penalties-Oberg Nor (interference), 18:09; Picard Nor (fighting), 18:09; Dalpe Cha (fighting), 18:09; Dadonov Cha (goaltender interference), 19:21; Panik Nor (interference), 19:27. Shots on Goal-Norfolk 8-13-6-27. Charlotte 17-7-10-34. Goalies-Norfolk, Janus 8-8-2 (34 shots-33 saves). Charlotte, Muse 8-1-0 (26 shots-24 saves). A-6,564