Tonight's hockey game at James Brown Arena will mark only the second time this season that the Augusta Lynx will play in front of their home crowd.

But any extra excitement or nerves probably didn't keep the team from getting a good night's sleep Thursday night. The Lynx arrived home from a seven-game, three-week road trip Thursday morning around 8:30 after an overnight bus ride from Biloxi, Miss. Less than four hours later, they were back on the ice for a noon practice.

"The original schedule called for a day off here," Lynx head coach John Marks said. "But that was made before the season, and I just think we haven't had much ice time, and our conditioning level has dropped a little."

The team is coming off a 6-3 victory over the Sea Wolves on Wednesday night for a total of nine points on the seven-game road trip and a tie for second place in the ECHL South Division. The numbers look good, but Marks said he expects this team to play even better.

"When I looked at the start of our season and saw one home game and seven on the road and saw who we were playing, I thought, 'I could be 1-7 to start the season.' So I thought if we could be .500 that would be an excellent start," he said. "So I'm pleased with our record, but I'm not very pleased with our consistency. Our play away from the puck has got to improve."

That was the theme at Thurs-day's practice. Team play will be key in the Lynx's two home games this weekend considering the loss of two of the team's top scorers. Aaron Slattengren was called up to the American Hockey League last week. Justin Keller, a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect, was sent back to the AHL on Thursday.

Marks said the Lynx should have free agent forward Marty Mjelleli, a St. Cloud State product recently released by Gwinnett, available for this weekend's games.

Another forward, Brian Ihnacak, who played overseas last year, will join the team soon but is waiting for an immigration delay to clear.