They are often called "shorties" in the hockey world, a term that describes short-handed goals scored by an outmanned team while it's trying to kill a penalty.

They don't happen very often.

That makes the Augusta Lynx's accomplishment Sunday against the Charlotte Checkers at James Brown Arena especially impressive.

Augusta scored a record four "shorties" in the second period alone during a 5-2 victory on New Year's Eve. By comparison, the Lynx tallied only three short-handed goals during the entire 1999-2000 season, and no ECHL team this season had scored more than three in a game.

"Two in a game is very rare," Lynx coach Bob Ferguson said. "I've never seen anything like (what happened Sunday)."

Ferguson said he stressed to the team, playing with a short roster after a couple of call-ups before the weekend, that it needed to stay out of the penalty box. Penalties had cost the team in Saturday's 4-3 loss at Charlotte.

Then, the Lynx committed four consecutive penalties.

"I was starting to get frustrated," Ferguson said, "and then they countered by scoring on each one (penalty kill). It just happened."

The rare outburst - possibly an ECHL record for "shorties" in one period - gave the Lynx (15-17-0) their third victory in their past four games and their 30th point of the year. It brought them within three points of fifth-place Charlotte in the South Division.

"I'm happy with the way things are coming together," Ferguson said. "We're getting consistent play in all the different areas. We're playing a lot better defensively, and that's translating into some success."

In their past five games, the Lynx have allowed an average of 2.6 goals per game, compared to their season average of 3.9.

They hope that continues heading into this weekend's games.

Augusta plays host to Gwinnett on Thursday, travels to South Carolina on Friday and returns home Saturday to face Johnstown of the North Division.

NOTES: The Lynx roster currently features goaltenders Dave McKee and Nathan Marsters, after several transactions before and during the weekend. ... F Jason Kostadine (4-5-9) will have surgery for an upper-body injury and is expected to miss six to eight weeks.

Reach Steve Sanders at (706) 823-3216 or steven.l.sanders@augustachronicle.com.